LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



ChapWK£3Copyright No... 
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



LESSONS 



Elementary Botany 



FOB SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



J 

THOMAS H. MACBRIDE 

State University of Iowa 



,;( OF C0/V£~ 
^91 RIGHT *** 

IAN 3 1896 



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\t-'- 



&XL 



Boston 

ALLYN AND BACON 

1896 



Copyright, 1895, by 
Thomas H. Macbride. 



C. J. Peters & Son, Typographers. 



Berwick & Smith, Printers. 



CONTENTS. xi 

LESSON . PAGE 

XLIV. Rye. Stem and Leaf 167 

XLY. Rye — Continued. Flower and Fruit .... 170 

XL VI. The Ground Iyy and the Mints 174 

XL VII. The Blue Grass T ... 180 

XL VIII. Ferns 183 

XLIX. Ferns — Continued 186 

L. Mosses 190 ^ 

LI. Relatives of Mosses 194 

LII. The Fungi 197 

LIII. The Fungi— Continued 200 

LIV. An Outline of the Vegetable Kingdom . . . 204 

Appendix A 209 

Appendix B 220 

Appendix C 222 

Appendix D 224 



ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON I. 
Buds and Their Arrangement. 

Materials required : Twigs of various trees or shrubs, 
as many sorts as possible, such as Box Elder, Soft Maple, 
Elm, Willow, Birch, Oak, Apple, Cherry, Locust, Osage- 
orange, Horse-chestnut, Lilac. 

I. Compare all the twigs. Note how very unlike 
they are. This unlikeness is due to various peculiar- 
ities, such as the character of the bark, the buds, the 
development or suppression of branches. Note that 
trees may be distinguished by their branches even, 
without leaves or flowers or fruit. 

II. Take a single twig, the Box Elder, and note : — 
a. The leaf-scars, uniting to form peculiar ring-like 

markings, occurring at quite regular intervals, more dis- 
tinct toward the tip. 

In the formation of each ring how many leaf -scars 
unite ? By the aid of your lens determine their limits 
and describe. 

Each leaf-scar, of course, marks the place of one of 

.last year's leaves. The particular part of the stem 

which bears the leaf or leaves (two in this case, some- 

1 



2 EL EM EN TARY BO TAN T. 

times more or fewer) is called the node, and the part of 
the stem included between two successive nodes is 
called the internode. 

b. The buds, each one just above a leaf-scar : oppo- 
site each other, therefore, in pairs up and down the 
stem. 

c. Hold the stem so that any bud is directly towards 
you : call the side of the twig next you the front of 
the twig. Notice that the buds on the front are in 
line and alternate with buds to right and left on each 
side. The pairs of buds lie then alternately in dif- 
ferent vertical planes. Buds or other organs so ar- 
ranged are said to be decussate, decussately arranged. 

d. Holding the twig as before, notice that the 
planes just referred to intersect each other at right 
angles and in the centre of the twig. The line of in- 
tersection of these planes, or of any planes so deter- 
mined, is the axis of the twig or stem ; lies in the 
direction of its principal development. In a wider 
sense the twig or stem itself is called the axis, because 
about it buds, leaves, or other lateral organs may be 
disposed. 

e. Draw a diagram to illustrate a cross-section of 
the twig to show the position of the planes just re- 
ferred to. 

/. Notice that towards the tip of the twig the inter- 
nodes become shorter, the last one shortest of all, so 
that the last two pairs of buds are brought very close 
together. Seen from the end of the twig these four 
buds occupy the entire circumference of the stem, as 



BUDS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT. 3 

would any other adjoining pairs if they could be looked 
at in the same way. Complete your diagram (e) by 
indicating upon it the position of the four buds just ob- 
served near the tip of the twig. What portion of the 
circle may be assigned to each bud ? 

Supposing the leaves still in position, how much of 
the whole space around the axis would fall naturally 
to each leaf, considering two nodes at a time ? We 
shall see this illustrated presently when leafy stems can 
be procured. 

g. Note that the twig (if uninjured) terminates in 
a bud. This is the terminal bud, distinguished thus 
from all the others, which together are called axillary 
buds. 1 

h. Draw a portion of the twig to show the leaf -scars 
and at least two succeeding pairs of lateral buds. 

III. Compare now the twig of the Soft Maple : — 

a. In a young, simple shoot the buds are disposed 
exactly as in the Box Elder twig, though perhaps smaller, 
and the leaf-scars are less conspicuous, the terminal bud 
perhaps larger. 

b. Some of the twigs brought in may be of a preced- 
ing year, or may be farther developed, so that instead of 
buds there may be found, at some of the nodes at least, 
short branchlets. Note that these branchlets are decus- 
sately arranged ; they may supplant all the buds on the 
lower portion of the twig or they may seem irregularly 
scattered, but in any case close examination will show 

1 Axillary, from axil. The axil is the angular space included 
on the upper side between the leaf and its stem. 



4 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

that where there occurs a branchlet there is no bud, but 
the branchlet occupies exactly the place in which a bud 
was to be expected. 

c. We may thus conclude that bud and branchlet are 
the same thing, differing chiefly in size and age ; a 
branchlet being a developed bud, and a bud an undeveloped 
branch. Our future observations will serve to confirm 
this conclusion. (See Lesson IX.) 

d. On such twigs as those considered in (b) and (c), 
not only will be observed branchlets, but on the branch- 
lets will be found again buds of considerable size and in 
great numbers, crowded around the tips. These are ac- 
cessor?/ buds, and will claim our attention in a subsequent 
lesson. Crowded and heaped as these buds seem to be, 
we may yet discover their orderly arrangement, espe- 
cially if we first consider the simpler clusters. On the 
younger portion of the budded stem we may find the lat- 
eral buds in place, but each flanked by single accessory 
buds. Farther down three buds may be found around 
the lateral bud. Apply this now to the branchlet, re- 
membering that the terminal bud is to be expected on 
the branchlet as on the twig, and describe what you can 
make out. 



BUDS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT. 



LESSON II. 

Buds and Their Arrangement — Continued. 

Materials required: The same as in the preceding 
lesson. 

I. Again compare all the twigs collected, this time 
especially in respect to the arrangement of their buds. 
Select for the sake of simplicity twigs that are free 
from branchlets and accessory buds, and note : — 

a. That all the twigs may be divided into two groups 
according to bud-arrangement : those in which the buds 
are opposite, two at each node — this group includes the 
Maple and Box Elder ; and those in which the buds are 
alternate, one at each node ; the latter group includes 
probably all the rest of the twigs at hand. 

II. Alternate Buds — the Elm. 

a. Take an Elm twig and hold it in its natural posi- 
tion ; it drooped probably at the tip and is accordingly 
curved, the upper side convex, the lower concave. With 
your lens examine the leaf-scars ; the bark is swollen 
just below so as to form a sort of shelf on which the 
leaf last year could rest and over which the axillary bud 
remains. The leaf-scar inclines toward the upper side 
of the twig and the bud toward the lower. This distor- 
tion results from the fact that in the Elm the leaves 
often expand in a plane nearly parallel to the axis, their 
edges towards the stem. As the leaves assume this 
position, the buds are crowded downwards. 



6 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

b. Note now more closely the bud-arrangement. 

How many buds at a node ? Taking any bud as 
the first, where on the stem is the next one above (or 
below) to be found ? the next ? What is the position 
of the third with respect to the first ? 

The distance measured in degrees around the stem 
from a line, parallel to the axis, drawn through one bud 
to a line similarly drawn through the next bud above 
or below on the stem is called the angular divergence of 
the buds. This angular divergence of the buds, and of 
course leaves, in the case of the Elm is 180°. How 
much is it in the Box Elder ? 

c. Recurring to the Elm twig, note that the buds 
form vertical rows, but that of these there are but two. 
We have here accordingly the two-ranked arrangement 
of buds and leaves. Its best example is perhaps the 
Elm ; although the grasses, as we shall see, exhibit the 
same arrangement. The same thing is true of the Lin- 
den. In the two-ranked arrangement, then, the angular 
divergence is one-half a circle, 180° more or less. 

d. Suppose a thread fixed at one bud to pass around 
the stem through the next bud above to the third, such 
a thread will describe a spiral, passing once around the 
stem. In performing this experiment, when we come to 
the third bud, i.e., the one immediately above that with 
which we started, we complete a spire or cycle. The 
third (last) bud of any spire is counted the first of the 
spire next following above. 

e. If Birch twigs are available, select slender, straight 
shoots of the last season, and note the arrangement of 



BUDS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT. 7 

the buds. Here the fourth bud is over the first, three 
occupy the entire angular space around the stem, the 
angular divergence is J of 360° — 120°, and the arrange- 
ment is described as the i cycle. If Alder twigs are 
obtainable, compare. 

/. Compare now the Apple twig. What bud in order 
is directly above the first ? Note that you must pass 
twice around the stem to reach it. What, then, is the 
angular divergence ? 

g. In all these cases note that the symmetry is not 
quite complete. We must use select branches. We 
must also attend carefully to trace the spiral, and the 
vertical rows are not as straight as we might expect. 
These irregularities are due to inequalities of growth, 
and these in turn are brought about by a variety of 
causes. For the axillary buds we have been examining, 
the position is determined by the place of the leaves, a 
bud for a leaf, and the leaves are disposed about the 
axis so as to be as little as possible in each other's way. 
We shall see this better when we have leafy twigs in 
hand, and we shall be able to trace clearly some of the 
causes which effect the lack of symmetry we have ob- 
served. 

h. Compare the Locust twigs. The buds very small, 
or in some cases already developed as branches. The 
leaf-scar flanked on each side by a sharp thorn. Its 
presence here will be explained in a later lesson. The 
arrangement the same as the last. The number of rows, 
five ; the number of turns in making the spiral, two ; the 
angular divergence two-fifths of a circle. We may call 



8 



ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



this the |- arrangement or cycle. If the bark of such a 
twig as that of Willow, Apple, or Locust could be peeled 
off in one piece for some distance and spread out flat, the 
outer side up, it would be observed that the buds occur 
in certain diagonal as well as vertical rows. The verti- 
cal rows have been already noted; the diagonal repre- 



7 








7 




6 














5 




i 














3 






2 


< 


1 




v. 
2 



Fig. 1. 

The | arrangement of buds, leaves, etc., seen from the side, projected 

on a flat surface. 

sent spirals (Fig. 1). Notice that in the fraction 
expressive of this arrangement the numerator, two, 
expresses the number of times we go round the stem in 
following one spiral from the first bud to the sixth ; the 
denominator gives the number of vertical rows. 



BUDS AND THEIR ARRANGEMENT. 



9 



i. Study in the same way the twig of an Osage- 
orange. Note the leaf-scar, bud, and thorn at each node. 




Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 




,-y^Z 


Z^j. 


(lufk 


Pw 


\ \\WV~~ 


K J 1 1 ; 






^^^_ 


: k •'*'' 



Fig. 4. Fig. 5. 

Diagrams to illustrate the spiral arrangement of buds, leaves, etc. 

Fig. 2, the \ arrangement ; Fig. 3, the \ ; Fig. 4, the § ; Fig. 5, the f . After 
von Kerner. The positions of the successive leaves are indicated by 
shading. 

The thorn represents probably a modified branch de- 
veloped from an accessory bud. Draw a diagram like 



10 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Fig. 1 to show the arrangement of buds, thorns, leaves, 
in Osage-orange. 

Further study of buds and their relation to branches 
may occupy our attention in subsequent lessons, when 
the buds may be had more fully developed. 



LESSON III. 
Stems ; Their Structure. 

Material required: The same twigs as before, omit- 
ting Locust and Osage as inconvenient to handle, but 
adding, if possible, Elder stems of the last season, Bass- 
wood, with twigs of Pine or Spruce. 

Instruments : a sharp penknife and a good Codding- 
ton lens. 

I. The Woody Twigs. 

Cut each twig squarely and smoothly off, preferably 
in its thinner portion, and examine with the lens each 
in turn. The structure comes out a little better if the 
cut surface be slightly wet. Note : — 

a. That each stem exhibits a threefold structure, — 
the bark or cortex, the tvood, and the pith^ sometimes 
called the medulla. 

b. That these occupy always a definite relation to each 
other as regards position ; what is this relation ? and 
what is the form of each component part of the stem ? 

c. Draw a diagram to indicate the structure of such 
a woody stem as the Elder or Maple seen in cross- 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 11 

section. The Elder is rather best to study because the 
parts are large. 

d. Note the peculiar appearance of the white pith as 
if made up of small bubbles, minute sacs ; these are the 
component cells, here large enough to be plainly seen 
with the Cocldington. In the other portions of the 
stem, the cells are too small and crowded for present 
observation. 

e. Supposing that we have an Elder shoot in hand ; 
cut off a small piece an inch or two in length. With 
the point of the knife slit the bark down one side. 
With care, the outer, corky layer of the bark may be 
removed entire, exposing a softer green layer, which we 
may term the middle bark. Gently scraping away the 
green layer, we expose the inner or fibrous bark. This 
innermost layer, generally called also the liber or simply 
bast, is, as we see, tough and fibrous ; compare the bark 
of the Willow, the Linden, or Basswood (Bastwood) ; 
any other twigs. Upon what depends the color of the 
annual twig in any case ? Compare the Maple, the 
Willow. 

/. If Pine, Spruce, or Balsam twigs have been brought 
in or can be obtained, cut the stems smoothly and com- 
pare. Pith probably small, woody ring large, bark as 
before. Note, however, minute drops of resin oozing 
from the cut surface. From which part of the bark 
does the resin proceed ? Erom the wood as well ? Note 
the minute tubules, resin ducts. These are character- 
istic of " Evergreens " generally, though not discoverable 
in all. Compare, for instance, the twigs of Ked Cedar. 

g. Draw a diagram to show the place of the resin ducts. 



12 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON IV. 

Stems ; Their Structure — Continued. 

THE BARK. 

The primitive arrangement of the bark and its lay- 
ers, as noted in Lesson III., persists usually but a short 
time ; in some cases, however, much longer than in 
others. If the corky layer is to endure, it must be re- 
newed from within. Such renewal is effected in much 
the same way in which the whole bark is renewed, and 
will be better understood after Lesson VI. In most trees 
the inner bark at length contains masses of hardened 
cells, thick-walled ; as the stem grows older and larger 
the outer bark-layers split up and disappear while the 
inner bark remains, becomes cracked, and by exposure 
to the weather, blackened and otherwise modified. 

Let the pupils go to the field and examine all acces- 
sible woody stems, and prepare a report, noting : — 

a. The varying duration of the several layers which 
at first make up the bark, as observed in different cases. 

This is best done by comparing the bark on the twigs 
and younger branches with that on the principal 
stems. 

b. The different ways in which the bark breaks up 
and falls off, as exhibited in the case of different stems. 
Is it possible to recognize stems by their bark ? 

Compare such stems as the following: Elder, Cur- 
rant, Grape, Apple, Cherry, Oak, Hickory, Elm, Hack- 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 13 

berry, Maple, Cottonwood, Willow, Pine, Larch, Cedar, 
Birch, Sycamore, etc. 

Such investigation and report may well occupy the 
time of more than one lesson. 



LESSON V. 

Stems ; Their Structure — Continued. 

THE WOOD. 

Material required : Pieces of Cornstalk preserved 
in alcohol ; pieces of dry Cornstalks from the fields ; 
Elder shoots as before, especially such as show slender 
tips ; herbaceous stems of accessible house-plants. 

I. The Cornstalk. 

a. The general structure ; nodes ; internodes ; leaf- 
arrangement, perhaps still discernible ; grooves in which 
axillary buds may lie. 

b. In a cross-section of the stem, between the nodes, 
note the structure ; the pith predominant ; the bark 
entirely lacking ; the wood represented by numerous 
fibres, scattered through the pith, more numerous toward 
the outside. 

c. In the pith note the cells, large, very thin-walled 
but plainly identifiable, all very much alike ; they to- 
gether build up a vegetable tissue, when dry, as here, 
very light, very spongy. Such a tissue is called paren- 
chyma. It is the tissue of piths and the soft parts of 
plants generally. 



14 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

d. Examine now one of the fibres ; it can be easily 
dissected out. Note its length, probably from node to 
node ; its strength. If the end has been cut smoothly, 
note, under the lens, the large openings, about four; 
these represent tubes, vessels they are called ; whence 
the fibre is called vascular. The fibres make up the 
fibro-vascular tissue of the plant, and each is called 
a fibro-vascular bundle. 

e. Towards the margin of the section, the outside of 
the stem, not only are the bundles more numerous, but 
they are smaller and more and more packed together, 
yet maintaining pretty well their identity. This is best 
seen in an alcoholic specimen which has been cut off 
smoothly with a razor. 

/. On the outside of the stem, closely associated 
with the outer bundles, find a thin layer of hard, smooth 
tissue, — the epidermis. Note that the entire arrange- 
ment of bundles and epidermis serves to give to the 
stalk its strength. Compare as to stiffness a pasteboard 
tube with an unrolled piece of the same material. 

g. Draw a neat diagram to show the arrangement of 
all these structures as they appear on the cross-section 
of the cornstalk. 

II. The Elder Twig. 

Select twigs in which the youngest nodes are still 
preserved ; cut the youngest jnternode (less than an 
eight of an inch in diameter) smoothly across, and wet- 
ting slightly the surface so exposed, examine with your 
lens, noting : — 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 15 

a. The same threefold structure observed in the 
older twigs before, but — the woody cylinder observed 
before (Lesson III. I. a) is here represented by little 
masses, oval in section, arranged in a ring around the 
white pith. The number of these is not so great but 
that the larger at least may easily be counted. 

b. Make a longitudinal section of the twig, and note 
that the oval sections just counted represent here as in 
the cornstalk, strands or fibres ; these, then, are the 
fibro-vascular bundles of the Elder. 

The component elements are so small that with a 
hand-lens we cannot discern the vessels as in the corn- 
stalk, but we may presently under higher magnification 
see the whole structure very clearly. Meanwhile we 
may observe : — 

c. The arrangement of the bundles, especially as com- 
pared with those of the cornstalk. There is in the 
pith of the Elder not so much as one ; all are arranged 
with perfect regularity in a definite ring around the 
pith. 

d. The bundles are separated at quite uniform inter- 
vals by portions of the pith which extend between them. 
These parts of the pith between the bundles are the 
rays, the medullary rdys, parts of the medulla. 

e. Draw a diagram to illustrate the arrangement of 
pith, bundles, rays, etc., in the young Elder shoot, and 
compare Fig. 8. 

/. Compare cross-sections of the younger stems of 
available house-plants, — Begonia, Geranium, Petunia, 
Calla, Lily, etc. In some note how beautifully the com- 



16 ELEMENT ABY BOTANY. 

ponent cells come out. as in Geranium, in pith and bark. 
In Geranium and others note the thin epidermis covered 
with small white hairs. 

In all we find but two types of structure, — the corn- 
stalk type in which the bundles are scattered, and the 
Elder type in which the bundles are plainly arranged in 
form of a distinct ring around the pith. 



LESSON VI 

Stems; Their Structure. — Continued. 

THE CAMBIUM. 

THE BUNDLES, OPEN AND CLOSED. 

Materials required : Cornstalk, Pumpkin-vine, Maple 
twigs, etc., — short pieces of alcohol-hardened material ; 
fresh twigs of various accessible trees ; cuttings from 
house-plants, as heretofore. 

I. The Pumpkin-stem. 

Take a short piece of a well-hardened stem, cut one 
end smoothly across ; examine with lens in good light, 
and note : — 

a. The absence of the central pith. The stem is 
naturally hollow. 

b. The fibro-vascular bundles, some large, some 
small, few in number ; count them. The figure of the 
section is a pentagon, and the arrangement of large bun- 
dles, at least, corresponds with this form. Draw an 



STEMS: THEIR STRUCTURE. 



17 



outline of the section, and mark with an x the place of 
each bundle. 

c. Examine one of the large bundles with the lens ; 
note the mouths of tubes, vessels, near the middle of the 
bundle. These vessels mark the woody portion of the 
bundle. Toward the outside is a portion plainly dif- 
ferent, showing no large openings ; this is the cortical or 




Fig. 6. Cross-section of a bundle of the Pumpkin-stem, diagram. 

a. Cortical portion (repeated below), b. The wood with large vessels. 

c. The cambium layer. An open bundle. 



bark portion of the bundle. Between these two parts, — 
bark and wood, — in favorable specimens the cambium 
can be seen as a white band passing across the bundle. 
This sometimes shows better in thin slices cut with a 
razor, held toward the light, and examined with a lens. 
Under a microscope of moderate power the structure 
comes out perfectly, and at least one section should be 
examined at this juncture in this way. Such a bundle 



18 



ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



as this where the cambium persists is called an open 
bundle. We shall see the effect of this presently. 

II. The Cornstalk. 

Cut a thin section of the cornstalk hardened in 
alcohol, hold to the light, and note : — 

a. The beautiful lace-work formed by the cells of 
the pith. 




-\--6 



Fig. 7. Cross-section of the Cornstalk bundle, diagram. 

a. Cortical portion, poorly developed, b. One of the large vessels of 

the wood. No cambium ; a closed bundle. 

b. The bundles, rather small, but showing : — 

(1) Large vessels forming the woody part, as in the 

Pumpkin-vine section ; and 

(2) A much smaller part, destitute of large vessels, 

the cortical portion of the bundle. There is 
no cambium. 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 19 

c. Put a section under the microscope, and the ab- 
sence of cambium will be very apparent. Such a bundle 
as this of the cornstalk is called a closed bundle. (See 
Fig. 7.) 

III. The Tree Twig. 

Take a Willow twig about \ inch in diameter. Cut 
the end smoothly across with a sharp knife or razor, and 
note : — 

a. The white pith, rather small, proportionately, in 
amount. 

b. The wood, a cylinder quite well developed. In 
the section the medullary rays are seen as slender lines 
radiating in all directions from the pith. 

c. The bark, separate from the wood by a fairly plain 
line of demarcation. This line (a faint ring, of course, 
on the end section) marks the place of the cambium of 
the twig or stem. 

d. The bundles here are so numerous and crowded 
that we can scarcely distinguish them. We recall, how- 
ever, that in younger twigs the medullary rays separate 
bundles (Lesson V. II. d), so that we may here consider 
as a bundle that part of the cylinder, in any case, limited 
on each side by rays. Compare a section of alcohol- 
hardened Maple shoot (Fig. 8). 

e. In the twigs, then, the bundles with the cambi- 
um are like those of the Pumpkin-vine ; i.e., open, but 
crowded so close together that the cambium from one 
bundle to the next becomes continuous, and so forms a 
sheath around the twig or stem, between the bark and 
wood, and having a common relation to both. 



20 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

f. This cambium sheath, as seen in any thin section 
of a living twig, is made up of very delicate cells, like 
those of the pith, but much smaller, and even more thin- 
walled. Because of their minuteness and delicacy we 
cannot see them with the Coddington. It is the remark- 
able property of these cambium cells that they are com- 
petent to grow, so as to make, in one direction, — that 
is, outwardly, — bark, in the other, vjood. This they 
do in the growing season. In fact, these cambium cells 



&v& 



W 



xV o/ 



Fig-. 8. Cross-section of young- Maple shoot, diagram. 

a. cortical part of bundle. c. cambium. 

b. epidermis. w. woody part of bundle. 

in the growing season do three things : they split up in 
planes parallel to the surface of the twig, and so increase 
their own number ; some of them on the outside become 
changed into bark-cells, and so form a new layer on the 
inside of the bark ; some next the wood become changed 
into wood-cells, and so add a layer of wood to that already 
in position. What the- ultimate effect of this arrange- 
ment is will appear more clearly in the next lesson. 

g. Cut all the twigs available, and find if possible the 
cambium line. 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 21 



LESSON VII. 

Stems ; Their Structure — Concluded. 

DIFFERENT KINDS OF STEMS. 

Materials required : Seedlings of various sorts, — 
Beans, Corn, Wheat, etc. ; sections of various stems, as 
Raspberry, Elder, Box Elder, Oak, Pine, Locust, etc. ; sec- 
tion of a Palm stem if obtainable. 

I. Prom our last two lessons we may now draw two 
or three well-defined conclusions : — 

a. Note that the arrangement of the woody matter, 
the bundles, in stems is correlated with the structure of 
the bundle itself. Thus, when the bundles of a stem 
are scattered they turn out to be closed bundles ; when 
arranged in a ring around the pith they are open. Ex- 
perience will show us that this is the general rule ; at 
least, the exceptions are so few that we need not heed 
them here. 

b. Stems with scattered bundles have, when the 
bundles are mature, no cambium • stems whose bundles 
form a ring have cambium. It follows, if we remember 
the nature of the cambium cells, what they are compe- 
tent to do (see Lesson VI. III./), that only those stems 
whose bundles are arranged to form a ring are likely to 
increase in thickness. 

c. Stems which increase in thickness by the activ- 
ity of the cambium grow by an addition (successive 
additions) to the outside of the woody cylinder. Such 



22 



ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



stems were long ago called Exogens, outside-growers ; 
while stems with scattered bundles were called Endo- 
r/ens, inside-growers, because it was mistakenly thought 
that such stems could increase in thickness by the 
growth or addition of new bundles inside the stem. 

II. Compare now growing seedlings of the Corn, 
Bean, Wheat. Find still another correlation. Xote 
that the Com in germinating sends up first but a single 
leaf ; the Bean, on the other hand, starts with two oppo- 
site leaves, the thick halves of the seed. The plumule, 
or bud for the unfolding of subsequent leaves, lies be- 
tween ; 'but w r e may disregard that for the present. 
These primary seed-leaves are called cotyledons. Now, 
the stem of the Bean has its bundles arranged in a 
circle around the pith, and we may conclude that plants 
having the bundles scattered, as the Corn, have one 
cotyledon ; plants having the bundles in a ring have 
(at least) two cotyledons. This is a general rule, and 
our further experience will abundantly confirm it. 
Plants which, as the Corn, Wheat, etg., have but one 
cotyledon, are said to be moTiocotyledonous ; plants 
which have two seed-leaves, or cotyledons, are dicoty- 
ledonous. 

III. These correlations may be placed in tabular 
form, thus : — 



Bundles. 


Stems. 


Seed- 
leaves. 


Plants. 


Scattered, Closed. 
In a King, Open. 


Endogenous. 
Exogenous. 


One. 
Two.i 


Monocotyledonous. 
Dicotyledonous. 



l In conifers the cotyledons are mostly several ; more than two. 



STEMS; THEIR STRUCTURE. 23 

IV. We may now compare stems in still another 
important particular ; viz., as to duration. 

a. Make a list of all the plants you can recall, such 
as grow in yard and garden, and place the names in two 
series, according to stem-duration. Some plants, many 
plants, on the approach of winter die completely ; others, 
as for instance Horse-radish, Rhubarb, die only to the 
ground ; while still others persist, retain their stems at 
all seasons and from year to year. Stems Avhich die 
down before the frost are called herbaceous ; persistent 
stems are, by way of contrast, denominated ivoody. In 
our northern latitudes the woody-stemmed plants are 
all, except one or two, exogens ; only in southern lands 
where there is almost perpetual summer do any of the 
endogens show persistent stems. Of these, Palm-trees 
offer the most notable example. 

b. Compare now with each other several of the per- 
sistent steins : Eose, Easpberry, Blackberry, Elder, Box 
Elder, Cherry, Oak, Pine, etc, These, though woody, 
vary in duration. Which persist only one year ? Which 
indefinitely ? 

c. Since exogens grow by external additions only, 
as described (Lessox VI. III.'/), and since our climate 
offers alternate periods of growth and rest, it follows that 
each persistent exogen may in its structure keep a record 
of its years. Cut smoothly the ends of sticks of Pine, 
Oak, etc., and find the concentric lines of growth. 
Count the rings, and in this way estimate the age of the 
larger pieces. Try the same experiment with any stump 
or log to be found in the neighborhood and report. 



24 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

d. This method is accurate except for the first year 
or two of development. Some stems (compare shoots of 
Box Elder) make two or three rings the first year, though 
uniformly only one per year thereafter. 

e. In the mountains of California great trees have 
been cut down. On the stump of one as many as eigh- 
teen hundred rings are said to have been counted. How 
old was such a tree ? 

/. Notice that in any case only the outside of the 
stem lives. Hollow trees live and flourish as those that 
are solid. In some of the stems cut across note the two 
kinds of wood, distinguished by color, — sap-wood, white, 
and heart-wood, some shade of brown or yellow. Only 
the white sap-wood in general contains living tissue. 
The heart-wood, shut up inside the tree, ceases to live, 
but does not perish unless injured from without. 



LESSON VIII. 
Stems ; Different Kinds ; Special Forms. 

Materials required: Dried specimens of Grape-vine 
attached by tendrils to its support ; Virginia Creeper 
attached by disks ; Morning-glory vine coiled around 
a string or pole ; Cucumber or Pumpkin vine ; Straw- 
berry " runner," showing successive individual plants ; 
in alcohol, root-stocks of Solomon's-seal, Trillium, Iris, 
May Apple, etc. ; Potatoes, Tulip and Onion bulbs ; a 
Cactus plant if convenient, etc. 



STEMS; SPECIAL FORMS. 25 

So far our discussion of stems has concerned' chiefly 
those which stand erect, and which agree pretty closely 
in structure with those we have used as types. Many 
steins, just as truly stems as any we have handled, yet 
differ very decidedly both in attitude, posture, or, as we 
generally say, habit, and in the form assumed conse- 
quent upon the discharge of some special function, or in 
obedience to peculiar circumstances. 

I. As to habit, stems are : — 

a. Erect. This is the common posture of our famil- 
iar plants. Let the student write a list of all the plants 
known to him which have erect stems. 

b. Climbing. Many plants which apparently lack 
requisite strength in themselves yet manage to rise 
sometimes pretty high in the world by climbing. This 
is effected in various ways. Let the student make out a 
list of climbing plants of his acquaintance, and classify 
according to the means by which the ascent is accom- 
plished. The Grape and the Morning-glory may be 
taken as two types. Later in the season the class may 
be made a committee to find out Iioav the young Morn- 
ing-glory plant, or seedling, manages to start and con- 
tinue its spiral ascent around pole or twine. Stems 
which ascend by coiling, as the Morning-glory, are some- 
times called tivining stems. 1 

c Prostrate. Many stems run along the ground ; 
and while the tip always or often may show a tendency 
to rise, nevertheless, the habit is prostrate, flat. The 

1 Head " Climbing Plants," by Chas. Darwin, especially chapter i. 



26 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Pumpkin-vine may be taken as an example. Let the 
student enumerate others. 

d. Repent. Repent means creeping. Repent stems 
are prostrate, but attach themselves at intervals to the 
ground by more or less abundant rootlets. The Straw- 
berry offers a familiar example. Others may be sug- 
gested. How about White Clover ? 

II. Stems assume special forms for special rea- 
sons. 

A. Many plants have subterranean stems : — 

a. The simplest subterranean forms differ but little 
from repent stems above ground. Such are the stems 
of some grasses, for example, as Blue Grass, Quickset. 
In such case the stem is still stem-like in appearance, 
and simply pushes along under ground, sometimes just 
below the surface, sometimes deeper, sending up at 
intervals branches and leaves. Such a subterranean 
stem is called a rhizoma or rhizome. It may be either 
long or short. Compare the subterranean stems of Rasp- 
berry, Blue-flag, Bracken Fern, Solomon's Seal, Trillium. 
In what do these differ ? Note that such plants also 
are perennial. Cf. Lesson VII. (IV.). 

b. If the rhizome is greatly shortened, and very 
greatly modified in form, we have a tuber. A good 
illustration of such modification is the common potato. 

c. Take a common potato and examine it carefully. 
What evidence do you find that this is a stem at all ? 
What are the " eyes " ? Note their arrangement. Com- 
pare potatoes that have sprouted in the cellar or in a 
damp, warm box. Look the specimen over with your 



STEMS; SPECIAL FOBMS. 27 

lens ; note the surface cells. Over each bud observe a 
delicate, projecting scale. Observe at which end the 
potato was attached to the parent plant, and state the 
direction in which lie the scales. Considering the po- 
tato as a stem, which end is the top ? 

d. Split the potato through the middle lengthwise ; 
find the ordinary parts of the stem ; the pith, very large ; 
the wood, a faint line around the margin of the section ; 
the bark, rather thick, like the pith; the epidermis, 
seen plainly as the thin outer covering. Examine the 
section with the lens. Xote the cells again ; the woody 
line; the epidermis. Where the section passes through 
an eye, the woody line bends out to meet it. Touch with 
a weak solution of iodine the cut surface. What hap- 
pens ? What makes up the mass of the potato ? 

e. If you have a microscope, make with a razor a 
thin slice of the potato, and put the slice under the 
lens. Note the cells filled with minute granules. Try 
iodine again on the microscope slide. In what form, 
then, does starch in the potato occur ? 

/. Can any one tell what becomes of the potato when 
the sprouts grow, as when the potatoes are planted ? 
Whence comes the material to make the sprouts ? What, 
then, is the purpose of this strange modification of the 
stem that gives us the tuber ? 

g. Draw an outline of the potato-section to show 
diagrammatically the various structural peculiarities 
observed. 

h. Compare, if convenient, a SAveet potato. This is 
a root, not a stem. Are there here " eyes " ? buds ? 



28 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Perhaps irregularly scattered buds occur near the top. 
Buds that come out irregularly oil different parts of a 
plant are called adventitious buds. We shall meet with 
such again. 

i. Compare an onion. Cut it vertically in two ; find 
the very short stem, bearing roots below, and abundant, 
swollen, thick scales around. The scales here, as may 
be seen by their tops, are leaf-bases. Such a struc- 
ture, where the stem is very short and surrounded by 
such leaf-bases, is called a bulb. Compare, if convenient, 
a tulip-bulb. 

j. In all the cases mentioned, and many others like 
them, the stem (in the bulb aided by the leaf-bases) dis- 
charges a special function, hence the extreme variation 
in form. What is the function ? 

B. Stems sometimes are peculiar in that they bear 
no leaves ; a Cactus, for example. It is the business of 
leaves to be green, for what reason we shall see later on. 
We have already found that on young stems there is a 
green layer in the bark ; in the Cactus and such steins, 
the place of the leaves is supplied by this green cortex. 

That such a form as the Cactus is really a stem is 
proved, not by inner structure only, which might be 
shown to be dicotyledonous, but by the mode of growth 
as well ; by the branching ; by the flowers the Cactus 
bears, for, as will be shown, flowers also are branches 
of a special kind. Perhaps a blooming Cactus may be 
shown by some member of the class. 



BUBS; THEIR DEVELOPMENT. 29 



LESSON IX. 
Buds Once More; Their Development. 

Materials required: Young branches from trees, 
shoots a year or two old of the following species : 
Locust, Cherry, Lilac, Cottonwood, Hickory, Horse- 
chestnut, etc. ; of the same species, as many as may 
be convenient, twigs that have been caused to grow 
in water in-doors (See Appendix B). 

I. Note on different twigs the variations the buds 
exhibit as to size. Contrast the Locust and the Lilac, 
Hickory, Horse-chestnut. Note the difference as to size 
on the same twig. 

IT. The Lilac Twig. 

a. Study the large buds near the tip. Review their 
arrangement. What was the order of the leaves ? 

b. A single bud. Note its shape. Cut it across 
with a sharp knife, and see the decussating pairs of 
bud-scales and undeveloped leaves. Examine with your 
Coddington, and draw in diagram. With the point of 
a needle dissect away, first on this side, then on that, 
the bud-scales. Note that only the outer are brown 
and hard, really to be called scales. The inner are soft 
and leaf-like. At last only a little short stem, or core, 
remains. 

Make a vertical section through the middle and 
through opposing angles of a large bud. Examine with 
a lenSo Note the pairs of young leaves arranged oppo- 



30 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

sitely on the sides of the little stem. Draw another 
diagram to show what you can make out under the 
lens. 

c. Compare now a bud that has been growing a few 
days. In what does growth consist ? Note how even 
the outer scales stretch up and become green at length 
at base. What becomes of the core, or stem ? In some 
cases developed as a young twig or branch, bearing the 
new leaves in order; in other cases, especially in the 
buds near the tip of last year's growth, expanded as a 
cluster of young flowers. Notice that flower-clusters 
and branches have the same origin, and stand related in 
the same way to buds and leaves. In the flower-clusters 
observe the branchlets. What arrangement do they 
show ? In each flower how many parts are seen ? All 
this is very suggestive. Note the dead flower-cluster of 
last year, probably yet hanging opposite a living (bloom- 
ing) branch. The branch in this case that unfolds as 
a flower-cluster has no further function or history. 

III. Cherry-buds. 

Make a vertical section through several buds on the 
Cherry twig, and compare. The lateral buds, perhaps 
all of them, contain each one or more tiny green buds in 
the centre, — flower-buds. Compare a twig on which the 
buds have begun to unfold. Note that the bud-scales 
are much less leaf-like than in the Lilac. 

The terminal bud contains no flower-bud (as a rule). 
These terminal buds in the Cherry are leaf-buds, and 
the transition stages from scale to leaf can again be 
seen. 



BUDS; THEIR DEVELOPMENT. 31 

IT. COTTONWOOD-BUDS. 

Compare as before lateral with terminal buds. Study 
the terminal bud ; its form ; outer scales, scarcely to be 
separated at all unless, in the process of growth, they 
have begun to separate of their own a,ceord. Make a 
vertical section through the bud. Is it resinous through- 
out ? Note the balsamic odor. 

Y. Compare in similar fashion the Soft Maple buds ; 
Hickory, Horse-chestnut, if you have them. Note the 
velvety fuzziness of the scales in many cases, especially 
in the Hickory. What can be the use of such woolly or 
velvety structures ? What of the resin in the Cotton- 
wood-buds ? 

VI. Note that in all these cases the bud-scales 
proper loosen as the bud develops, and fall off, are decid- 
uous. When a leaf falls, it leaves behind a scar ; how is 
it with the bud-scale ? Remembering that the unfold- 
ing of the termirJal bud extends the twig, increases its 
length, follow back a little way, say on the Cottonwood 
twig, and find the position of the terminal bud a year 
ago. How many signs, indications, can you find that 
you have selected the right place ? Compare in this 
way other twigs. How many years can you count back ? 
Does the age in years determined by counting back the 
annual nodes on the twig correspond with the number 
of rings seen in a section taken across the twig just 
below the last (oldest) node counted ? 

VII. This peculiarity of the bud, by which it contin- 
ues unvaryingly the branch or stem to which it belongs, 
admits of several practical applications. Thus, to recur 



32 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

to the potato-tuber, — how are potatoes propagated in 
our gardens ? By seed ? When potatoes are cut in 
pieces for planting, why is care always taken to have on 
each piece an "eye"? What is Grafting ? Budding? 
How does the gardener propagate house-plants ? What 
are the little black bodies produced in the axils of the 
leaves of the tiger-lily ? What are onion-sets ? 



LESSON X. 
Roots. 



Materials required: Sweet Potatoes, Beets, Turnips, 
Carrots, Parsnips, and such vegetables ; with these, for 
comparison, a few common Potatoes ; seedlings of vari- 
ous ages of the same species, Turnips, Beets, Corn, 
Wheat, Beans, Pumpkin, Melon, etc. • cuttings (rooted) 
of house-plants, such as Geraniums ; a Cornstalk from 
the field, to show lateral roots at the base ; a piece of 
the stem of Poison-ivy, preserved in alcohol, if con- 
venient ; dry stems of weeds affected by Dodder, etc. 

I. Boot axd Stem. 

It is a familiar fact that the plants about us consist, 
at least when growing, of three more or less distinct 
parts, — the stem, the roots, the leaves. Thus far we 
have been considering stems chiefly ; let us now turn 
our attention for a little while to the roots of common 
plants, and try to discover their distinguishing features 
and characteristics. 



ROOTS. 33 

a. Direction. We expect, of course, to find roots in 
the ground, and we know that their general direction is 
downwards ; but let us compare various seeds, Corn, 
Beans, etc., that have been caused to germinate in vari- 
ous postures as directed (Appendix B). Notice that 
whatever may have been the position of the seed, the 
root always starts downwards into the darkness, the 
leaves and stem upwards towards the light. If the seed 
— grain of corn — has been wrong side up when planted, 
then the root turns as it grows, and finally takes its 
appropriate direction. For this reason the stem is 
sometimes called the ascending axis, the root the de- 
scending axis, of the plant. Sometimes the first root 
which leaves the seed, the primary root, continues to 
grow downwards, large and strong during the whole life 
of the plant, becomes a tap-root. Such a root has the 
Bean, the Beet, the Dandelion, many weeds, and in a 
more striking sense the Oak and the Walnut. 

Compare now seedlings that are somewhat older, and 
note — for instance, in the Corn — the development of 
numerous other roots succeeding the first, — secondary 
roots. What has in this case become of the primary 
root ? Such clustered slender roots as we have before us 
now are called fibrous roots. Such roots are charac- 
teristic of monocotyledonous plants ; but compare the 
roots of the seedling Pumpkin or Melon. Draw a ger- 
minating grain of corn to show the opposite tendencies 
of root and stem. 

b. As to Buds. All the stems studied in the lessons 
hitherto are characterized by abundant buds ; Iioav is it 
w r ith roots ? 



34 ELEMENTABY BOTANY. 

Compare the Potato again with the Sweet-potato. 
The same tests which prove the Potato-tuber a stem 
(Lesson VIII. II. A, h) are sufficient, of course, to show 
that the Sweet-potato is not one. The adventitious 
buds of the Sweet-potato appear in spring all over it, 
and give rise to new plants. The roots of very many 
plants produce, especially if injured, adventitious buds. 
Compare what may be learned concerning the root- 
sprouting of the common Locust, the Cherry, the Silver 
Poplar, the Osage-orange. Nevertheless, it is the pecu- 
liar characteristic of the stem to bear buds for leaves 
and branches ; and the root, if it have buds at all, bears 
adventitious buds only. 

II. Morphology of Koots : i.e., a Comparative 
Study of Their Forms. 

a. Take up seedling Beets, Carrots, Turnips, wash 
the roots free from sand, and compare as to shape with 
the plants offered as vegetables. Manifestly the pri- 
mary root has in this case assumed special form. Where 
is the stem ? Examine the crown of a full-grown Beet, 
for instance, and find the terminal bud. We may con- 
sider the stem in this case extremely short, its inter- 
nodes not lengthened, but consolidated with the upper 
part of the root. When such a plant blooms, the stem 
generally stretches up, and the flowers are high in air. 
Perhaps some pupil has seen the garden Rhubarb in 
bloom. It may be examined later in the year. 

b. Examine the base of a cornstalk that has attained 
maturity. Note the circle of roots sent out from the 
node nearest the ground. These are adventitious roots. 



ROOTS. 35 

It is curious to notice that in this case the roots, as may 
be shown by several stalks cut at different ages, start 
in the air, aerial roots, and only at last are firmly im- 
bedded in the earth. The Banyan-tree offers a famous 
example of aerial rooting (cf. any good cyclopaedia), and 
the Screw Pine another. The most common example is 
afforded by the Poison-ivy {Rhus toxicodendron L.), a 
plant unsafe to handle, but perfectly manageable by 
sample in a museum jar. 

Further examples of adventitious roots are shown 
in summer in every garden where Tomato-plants, for 
instance, left to themselves, take root where the stem 
happens to lie pressed to the ground. With suitable 
care almost any plant may be made thus to put forth 
roots from any part of the stem. What are cuttings ? 
What happens when the end of a cutting is kept for 
a while in moist earth ? Willow switches do very 
well for experiment. Does it matter which end goes 
down ? 

c. Study pieces of herbaceous stems, either dry or 
preserved in alcohol, affected by Dodder stems. Note 
how tightly the coils embrace the larger stems. Try to 
loosen them. The grip is made secure by rootlets that 
enter the tissues of the larger stem. The Dodder is a 
parasite ; it has no connection (direct) with the ground, 
but steals its living from the larger plant, the so-called 
host-plant, into which the roots are sent. 

III. Functions of Roots. 

Considering all the cases we have examined, what 
may we conclude as to the functions of roots ? Let the 



36 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

pupil find three functions which roots perform, state 
them, and give reasons for his statement in each case : 

1. For the first, the aerial roots of the Cornstalk 

may furnish a clew. 

2. For the second, Turnips, Dahlia-roots, Sweet- 

potatoes. 

3. For the third, the Dodder. 

The function suggested by the Dodder rootlets is, we 
readily see, the most important of all. It is of advan- 
tage that the plant be held fast to the earth; it is also 
convenient to have such a place as the root in which, 
as in a cellar, to store that which may serve a future 
need ; but first of all a growing plant must be nourished, 
and for terrestrial plants generally, as for the Dodder, 
nourishment enters the plant largely through the roots. 
It is a familiar fact that plants cut from their roots die. 
It is also a familiar fact that plants thrive only as they 
are supplied with water. Water enters the plant chiefly 
through its roots. Compare seedlings that have grown 
in moist soil with those grown in soil that has been 
allowed to dry. Furthermore, we must believe that 
plants derive from the soil much else besides water. 
Compare, for example, seedlings grown in damp soil 
with those grown in damp, clean sand, or in sawdust. 
Here the water supply is the same. What about the 
results ? This difference also appears in our fields 
between plants growing in rich soil and those in sand 
or clay ; which are finer ? In general, we may say that 
the important function of roots is to supply the plant 
with water, and with such elements of its food-supply as 
are soluble in water. 



THE LEAF. 37 



LESSON XI. 
The Leaf. 

DURATION, ARRANGEMENT, PARTS, STRUCTURE. 

Materials required: Twigs of the Maple or Box 
Elder, Pine or Spruce, Hickory, Lilac, Catalpa, Oak, etc. ; 
pressed branches with leaves of the Larch, Gooseberry, 
Galium (Goose-grass or Cleavers), or Carpet-weed ; fresh 
leaves and branches of cultivated Geranium ; leaves of 
Amaryllis or Narcissus, and fresh or pressed branches 
of the cultivated " Smilax " ; fresh or pressed leaves 
of other plants ; a house-plant which has been in the 
dark for several days ; seeds of the Bean, Pea, Corn, etc. 

I. Duration. 

Compare the branches of the Maple and the Pine. 

a. Note that the leaves of the Maple are wanting, 
scars only remaining to mark their position. Maple 
leaves are deciduous. 

b. In the Pine the leaves remain on the branches all 
winter, and are persistent. 

c. Compare the general aspect of Oaks and Maples 
with that of Pines and Spruces in winter. When do the 
Oaks and Maples lose their foliage ? Do all the leaves 
die ? How long do the leaves of the Pine and Spruce 
persist ; i.e., on twigs of how many years' growth may 
leaves be found ? Do the leaves finally fall, or do all 
that the tree produces persist ? 



38 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



II. Arrangement. 



Note the position of the leaves or leaf-scars on the 
several branches. 

a. In the Oak how many leaves were developed at 
each node ? Such leaves are alternate. 

b. How many leaves were developed at each node in 
the Maple or Box Elder ? What position with refer- 
ence to each other do they occnpy ? Snch leaves are 
opposite. 

c. How many leaves are there at each node of the 
Galium, or Goose-grass ? 

When each node bears more than two leaves they 
are ivhorled. 

d. Notice that in the Larch and Gooseberry the 
leaves are crowded in a close cluster, hence are fas- 
cicled. 

e. Draw two or three nodes of each kind, to show 
the position of the leaves. 

III. Parts. 

Take a fresh leaf of the Geranium, one still attache.. 
to a branch, and note : — 

a. The long, slender stalk, or petiole. 

b. The thin, expanded portion of the leaf, the blade. 

c. The green leaf-like appendages attached, one on 
each side, to the base of the petiole, — the stipules. 

d. With the Geranium leaf compare the leaves of 
the Maple, Amaryllis, or Narcissus, the cultivated Smi- 



THE LEAF. 39 

lax (Myrsiphyllum), etc. Is the petiole always present ? 
The stipules ? The blade ? 

In the Smilax note that the green leaf-like body is 
developed from the axil of a scale-like leaf, and is really 
a modified branch, or clado phyllum. 

IV. Structure. 

Study a large, fresh leaf of the Geranium. 

a. With forceps strip off a portion of the outer 
covering of the blade. This is a thin, transparent 
membrane, — the epidermis. 

b. Under the epidermis note the green pulpy leaf- 
parenchyma filled with chlorophyl grains which give to 
the leaf its green color. Compare the epidermis from 
the lower surface of an Amaryllis leaf, and under a 
Coddington notice the rows of minute openings, the 
stomata. Their function will be referred to presently. 

c. Observe that the leaf-parenchyma is supported by 
a network of structures whose primary branches pass 
from the end of the petiole, and which are more prom- 
inent on the lower surface of the leaf. These are the 
veins, and their arrangement in the leaf constitutes the 
venation of the leaf. The largest veins, which are 
branches of the petiole, are called ribs. 

d. Make a cross-section of the petiole, and with a 
lens note : — 

1. The thin outer coat, or epidermis, appearing 
merely as a line, and better shown when 
stripped from the petiole with forceps. 



40 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

2. The green, pulpy layer next to the epidermis, 

consisting of pavenchy ma-cells filled with chlo- 
rophyl grains. 

3. In the centre a lighter-colored, pithy portion, in 

which may be seen a number of still lighter 
colored spots, fibro-vascular bundles in section. 

4. Note that the largest one of these fibro-vascular 

bundles is found near the centre of the section, 

while the smaller ones form a circle near the 

outer part of the pithy portion of the petiole. 

Count the smaller bundles, and compare the 

number with that of the principal ribs in the 

blade. 

e. Carefully cut away, with a sharp razor, a portion 

of the petiole and blade at their juncture, preferably 

from the upper surface (i.e., make a longitudinal 

section), in such a way that the central fibro-vascular 

bundles of each rib, and that of the petiole, shall be 

exposed. Note : — 

1. That the central fibro-vascular bundle of the pet- 

iole branches, one branch passing into each of 
the ribs in the blade. 

2. That one of the smaller fibro-vascular bundles of 

the petiole also enters each rib, accompanying 

the branch noted in 1. 
/. If the leaf is freshly broken from the stem, the 
ends of the broken fibro-vascular bundles may be seen 
arranged in a crescent or semicircle on the surface of 
the base of the petiole, and likewise on the fractured 
surface of the stem ; the fibro-vascular bundles pass from 



THE LEAF. 41 

the stem into the leaf, a fact which may be otherwise 
demonstrated by making a careful longitudinal section of 
a Geranium branch and the petiole of an attached leaf. 
The veins of a leaf are simply continuations of the 
woody or fibro-vascular systems of the stem. 

g. Examine the leaf-scars on twigs of the Hickory, 
Catalpa, Buckeye, Lilac, etc., and notice in the scar 
points representing the ends of the broken fibro-vascular 
bundles. 

V. Functions. 
a. Assimilation. 

1. Place a living plant in the dark for some days. 
What changes take place in the color of the 
leaves ? 

What changes take place in the color of 

a leaf which has been frozen ? Of one which 

has been dried ? 

Compare a plant which has been kept in the dark 

with one which has been exposed to the light during 

the same time. Which has grown more ? Does the 

first show any additional growth ? Eecall the changes 

which take place in the foliage of the Oak, Elm, etc., 

in the fall and winter. Does any growth take place 

after the. leaves have changed and fallen ? 

These observations show that the chlorophyl bodies, 
which, as we have seen, make the leaves green, are 
developed and are active only in the presence of sun- 
light and a proper amount of heat and moisture. Under 
such conditions the work of assimilation is carried on 
by them ; that is, the inorganic matters, chiefly water, 



42 ELEMENT ABY BOTANY. 

carbon-dioxide, and ammonia, taken into the plant (in 
solution by the roots, and in a gaseous state by the 
leaves), are, in the leaves acting in sunlight, made over 
into organic plant-substance. 

Only green plants can use as food, assimilate, inor- 
ganic or mineral matters. This distinguishes them at 
once from animals. 

2. If the foregoing statement is true, why do the 
Maple, Apple, Plum, etc., produce flowers (i.e. 
grow) long before their leaves appear ? (See 
Lesson XXI.) 

Can a potato grow in the dark ? (See 
Lesson VIII. II. A.) 

Will a seed sprout and grow underground, 
hence in the dark ? Will the plantlet devel- 
oped from the seed continue to grow if kept 
in the dark ? 

Test with Iodine various seeds, such as 
those of the Pea, Bean, Corn, etc. 

In all the foregoing cases, and in all cases where 
growth takes place before the appearance of green leaves 
or other structures containing chlorophyl, growth is 
possible because starch or other food-substance had 
been stored up in some part of the plant for just such 
use. 

Such food substances Avere prepared by the plant 
during the preceding season by the aid of green 
leaves, and they are already organic substances which 
may readily be used by the plant without the aid of 
chlorophyl. 



THE LEAF. 43 

b . T) 'a n sj) i ) x a t io n . 

1. Expose a fresh leaf or detached branch to the air 

of a warm room for a few hours. What is the 
result ? 

2. Compare a similar branch which has been placed 

in a tumbler of water. What does the differ- 
ence between these branches indicate ? 

3. What is the difference between plants which have 

been abundantly watered, and those which are 
grown in dry soil ? 

4. Place a fresh leafy branch , of any house-plant 

under a bell-glass, or in a glass jar which can 

be closed. In the course of an hour or more 

what has collected on the wall of the jar or 

bell-glass ? Whence does it come ? 

These experiments indicate that a plant takes up, 

and again gives off, large quantities of water. Most of 

this water acts merely as a solvent and carrier of the 

inorganic substances used by the plant for food. When 

this food has been assimilated the surplus water again 

passes from the plant in the form of vapor. 

This exhalation of the surplus water in the form of 
vapor takes place through the stomata already men- 
tioned, and is called transpiration. 

c. The principal functions, then, of ordinary green 

foliage-leaves are those of assimilation and 
transpiration. 
For special forms of leaves which serve as store- 
houses of food, for protection, as tendrils, floral-organs, 
etc., see Lesson XV. VI., and the lessons on the flower. 



44 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XII. 
The Leaf. — Continued. 

VENATION. 

Materials required : Herbarium or fresh specimens of 
the leaves of the following plants : Flowering Fern, Elm, 
Hazel, Apple ; cultivated Geranium, Maple ; Amaryllis 
or Narcissus, Day Lily ; Canna. 

I. Examine the lower side of a fragment of the 
frond of the Flowering Fern. Note : — 

a. Each one of the smallest divisions of the frond 
has a distinct vein running through the middle, the 
7nid-rib. 

b. From* each mid-rib pass out numerous smaller 
veins or veinlets. Do these form a network ? Do 
any or all of them fork ? Do the branches again divide ? 
Into how many branches does a vein divide at any 
given point of branching ? 

Such forking venation is called furcate, and is char- 
acteristic of ferns. 

c. Draw a bit of the frond showing venation in detail 

II. Examine the lower side of an Elm leaf. Note : — 

a. The prominent central vein, a continuation of the 
petiole, the mid-rib. 

b. The smaller veins, or secondary ribs, running 
obliquely from the mid-rib, arranged like the barbs of a 



THE LEAF. 45 

feather; hence the leaf is pinnately-ueined, or feather- 
veined. 

How many secondary ribs are there ? Where do 
they terminate ? 

c. The small veinlets forming a network between 
the secondary ribs ; hence the Elm leaf is netted-veined, 
and being pinnate, it is said to be pinnately netted- 

veined. 

d. Draw the outline of the leaf, and show the vena- 
tion in detail. 

e. Compare the leaves of the Hazel and Apple with 
that of the Elm. Is the general arrangement of the 
larger veins the same ? Do the veinlets form a net- 
work ? Is the general plan of venation the same ? Is 
there any difference in the details of venation ? 

III. Examine the lower surface of a Geranium leaf. 
Xote : — 

a. The seven nearly equally prominent ribs, diver- 
ging from the end of the petiole like fingers from the 
palm of the hand; hence the leaf is digitately or palm- 
ately veined. How and where do the ribs terminate ? 

b. The smaller veins and veinlets, uniting to form a 
more or less distinct network ; hence again netted- 
veined, but now palmately netted-veined. 

c. Draw an outline of the leaf, and a portion of the 
venation in detail. 

d. Compare the leaf of the Maple. Is the general 
plan of venation the same ? How many ribs does the 
Maple leaf have ? Compare the details of venation. 



46 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

IV. Examine the leaf of Amaryllis (or Narcissus). 
Note : — 

a. The very prominent central mid-rib. 

b. The numerous smaller veins, sometimes called 
nerves, which extend from the base of the leaf to the 
apex. Do any of these veins unite ? Are there smaller 
veinlets crossing between the veins ? 

Since the veins are approximately parallel, and do 
not form a network, the leaf is said to be parallel-veined ; 
and as they diverge from the base it is again digitately 
or palmately veined : hence the leaf is palmately paral- 
lel-veined. 

c. Draw an outline of the leaf and a portion of the 
venation in detail. 

d. Compare the leaf of the Day Lily. Is the gen- 
eral plan of venation the same ? Note the difference in 
the number and size of the veins. 

V. Examine a Canna leaf. Note : — 

a. The prominent mid-rib. 

b. The veins running out obliquely from the mid-rib. 
Where do they terminate ? Do they unite, either directly 
or by cross-veinlets, to form a network ? 

Note again the feather-like arrangement of the veins ; 
hence the leaf is again pinnately-veined, but now pin- 
nately parallel-veined. 

c. Draw the leaf and a portion of the venation in 
detail. 

VI. Have various leaves of house-plants brought in, 
and compare the venation with the foregoing types. 



THE LEAF. 47 



LESSON XIII. 
The Leaf. — Continued. 



Materials required: Fresh or herbarium specimens 
of the leaves of the following species : Carnation, Fuch- 
sia, Common Locust, Black Willow, Purslane, culti- 
vated Nasturtium, Morning-glory, Keel Clover, Ground 
Ivy, Calla, ShepherdVpurse (the whole plant), Pine, 
Ked Currant, Verbena, White Elm, Common Thistle, 
P>ellwort, Honeysuckle, and such other forms as may 
be conveniently obtained. 

I. Form. 

a. Make a general comparison of the leaves. Notice 
the great variation in the dimensions of the several 
forms, the series ranging from those which are long 
and very narrow, to those which are almost circular 
in outline. 

Three general groups of forms may be recognized : — 

1. Those which are widest near the base, and taper 

toward the apex. 

The terms lanceolate, ovate, cordate, sagittate, 
and reniform describe the most common forms. 1 

2. Those which are widest near the apex, and taper 

more gradually toward the base. The terms 
spatulate, cuneate, oblanceolate, obovate, and 

1 For explanation of these terms, and all others used in this les- 
son, see Glossary, Appendix D. 



48 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

obcordate describe the most -common forms, the 
last three being respectively like the lanceolate, 
ovate, and cordate forms reversed. 

Select specimens from the series of leaves to 
which these terms may properly be applied. 
Make an outline sketch of each. 

3. Those which are widest at the middle, and taper 
equally toward base and apex. ■ The terms 
linear, needle-shaped, oblong, elliptical, and oval 
describe the most common forms. 

Select forms represented by these terms from 
the material in hand, and draw each. 
Notice that the general outline of some of the leaves 
cannot be satisfactorily described by any of the terms 
in the preceding groups, the forms being intermediate 
between the members of one group, or even of different 
groups. 

In such cases combinations similar to the following 
must be employed : ovate-lanceolate, linear-lanceolate, 
oblong-ovate, etc. 

b. Compare the several leaves, and notice the relation 
which general outline and venation bear to each other. 

II. Base. 

a. Compare the bases of the several leaves, and notice 
that in many cases the form of the base does not appre- 
ciably modify the general outline of the leaf, and also 
that leaves of different forms may have bases of essen- 
tially the same kind. The bases vary from those which 
are narrow and tapering in form to those in which the 
margin at the base forms a re-entrant angle, the outer 
angle, or sinus, being acute or obtuse, 






THE LEAF. 49 

The following are the most common terms applicable 
in describing the bases of leaves : cuneate, acute, obtuse, 
truncate, cordate, veniform, sagittate, auriculate, peltate, 
perfoliate, connate-per foliate, decurrent. 

It will be observed that some of these terms are the 
same as those applied to the general outline ; but they 
are here used in a restricted sense, applying to the base 
only. 

b. Select forms from the series of leaves to which 
the above terms may be applied, and make an outline 
sketch of each base. 

III. Apex. 

a. Compare the apices of the several leaves, and note 
that the general outline of the leaf is affected even less 
by the form of the apex than by that of the base. 

The most common forms of the apex are the fol- 
lowing : obcordate, emarginate, obtuse, truncate, cuspidate, 
acute, acuminate, mucronate. 

b. Apply these terms as far as possible to the speci- 
mens under observation, and make sketches to illustrate 
the various forms of apices. 

Prepare an outline of all the terms in this entire 
lesson which can be illustrated by the material in hand, 
and illustrate each term by a small outline drawing made 
from the specimen. Such a classified illustrated out- 
line of terms will be very convenient for reference in 
describing plants. 



50 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XIV. 

The Leaf. — Continued. 

MARGIN, DIVISION OF BLADE; COMPOUND LEAVES. 

Materials required : The leaves mentioned in the 
preceding lesson ; fresh and herbarium specimens of 
the leaves of the following additional species : Cherry, 
Common Violet, cultivated Geranium, Burdock, Haw- 
thorn, White Oak, Maple, Peppergrass (entire young 
plants), Golden Currant ; also Rose, Pea, Honey Locust, 
Red Clover, Sweet Clover, Rue-anemone, Barberry, 
Orange, and any other available species. 

Examine the entire series of leaves, and notice that 
they may be separated into three series or groups : 
1. Those in which the blade of the leaf is not at all, or 
but slightly, cut at the margin, the incisions, or sinuses, 
if any, extending much less than half-way to the mid- 
rib, or end of the petiole. 2. Those in which the blade 
is more deeply cut, the incisions extending quite half- 
way, or more, toward the mid-rib, or base of the leaf. 
3. Those in which the blade is divided into several sepa- 
rate divisions. 

I. Margin. 

a. Compare the leaves of Carnation, Cherry, White 
Elm, Common Violet, Geranium, Burdock, Hawthorn, 
etc. 

Notice the varied character of the margin, which, 
however, is in no case deeply cut, the extremes in this 



THE .LEAF. 51 

series being represented by the entire margin of the Car- 
nation leaf and the rather deeply incised margin of the 
Hawthorn leaf. The various forms of the margin are 
described by the following terms : entire, serrate, dentate, 
crenate, undulate, sinuate, repand, incised. 1 

In some cases the marginal teeth, of whatever form, 
are very small ; and for these the following terms are 
used : serrulate, denticulate, crenulate, according as the 
margin is finely serrate, dentate, or crenate. Sometimes, 
as in the Elm leaf, the margin is coarsely serrate, and 
the serrations, or teeth, are again serrate, the margin 
then being doubly -serrate. Similarly, the margin may be 
doubly-crenate or doubly -dentate. 

b. Apply the terms as far as possible to the leaves 
before you, and make an outline sketch of a portion of 
the margin of each leaf studied. 

II. Division of the Blade. 

a. Compare the leaves of White Oak, Maple, Pepper- 
grass, Golden Currant, Thistle, etc. 

Notice that the depth of the sinus varies, but in all 
these leaves it extends more than half-way to the mid- 
rib, or the base of the leaf. To express the difference 
in the depth and character of the cutting of the blade, 
the following terms are employed : lobed, cleft, parted, 
divided. 

b. Xotice also that the mode or plan of division is 
of two kinds, pinnate and palmate, conforming to the 
kind of venation. (See Lesson XII.) Hence the leaves 

1 See Glossary. 



52 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

are pinnately lobed, cleft, parted, or divided; or palmately 
lobed, cleft, parted, or die hied. 

Pinnate leaves may also be pinnatifld, or rancinate. 

c. Apply the preceding terms to the specimens before 
yon, and from the latter make outline sketches to il- 
lustrate the several forms. 

III. Compound Leaves. 

a. Compare the leaves of the Rose, Pea, Honey Lo- 
cust, Red Clover, Sweet Clover, Rue-anemone, etc., with 
those studied in the preceding groups. Note that the 
latter all have the blade in one more or less continuous 
piece, being therefore simple, while the former ail have 
the blade divided into separate divisions, or leaflets. 
Most of the leaflets have distinct stalks, or secondary 
petioles, called petiolules, which are .more or less dis- 
tinctly joined to the mid-rib, or end of the petiole. The 
last character, together with the complete division of 
the blade into leaflets, characterizes compound, leaves, and 
constitutes the difference between many divided and 
nearly all compound leaves, though the characters are 
by no means always clear. 

b. Compare the leaf of the Barberry. If the leaf 
ha's been carefully removed from the branch, it will be 
noticed that the leaf-stalk is distinctly jointed near the 
base. How much of the leaf -stalk is petiole ? How 
much petiolule ? How many divisions of the blade, or 
leaflets, in this leaf ? 

The Barberry leaf is a compound leaf with one leaf- 
let. Compare the leaf of the Orange if available. 

c. Examine the several leaves again. Why" is not 



THE LEAF. 53 

each one of the leaflets considered a leaf ? Are there 
buds in the axils of the leaflets ? Of the whole leaf ? 
(See Lesson I.) 

d. In this series of leaves notice the variation in the 
member of leaflets, and also in the manner of division, 
the leaflets in some being arranged in the pinnate order, 
such leaves being pinnately -compound, and in others pal- 
mately, such leaves being palmately-compound. 

e. In the pinnate leaves notice the difference in the 
arrangement of the leaflets, one or two leaflets, or a 
tendril, terminating the leaf. The leaves are therefore 
odd-pinnate, even-pinnate, or cirrhosely -pinnate. 

f. Notice, also, that both the palmate and pinnate 
leaves may be more than once compound ; i.e., they may 
be twice or thrice pinnately or palmately compound, or 
they may be pinnately or palmately decompound. 

Prepare an illustrated outline of the terms employed 
in this lesson, making the outline sketches from the 
specimens studied. 



LESSON XV. 
The Leaf. — Concluded. 

COLOR, SURFACE, TEXTURE; VERNATION; SPECIAL FORMS. 

Materials required : See list under each sub-head. 
I. Color. 

Examine the fresh leaves of cultivated Geranium 
(both green and variegated forms), Carnation, Oleander, 



54 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Amaryllis, Fuchsia, Begonia, etc. ; also herbarium speci- 
mens of Painted Cup. 

a. Notice that some of the leaves are much deeper 
green on one side than on the other, such leaves having 
a distinct upper and lower (or dorsal) face, while those 
which are of nearly the same color on both sides are 
usually erect, or stand with both faces about equally 
exposed to the light. (See Lesson XI. IV.) 

b. Compare the colors of the several leaves. Notice 
that the chlorophyl-green of some of them is more or 
less obscured or modified by other colors, some of which 
belong to the body of the leaf, while others are produced 
by surface appendages, such as hairs, scales, etc. 

Describe the colors of the various leaves. 

c. In the Painted Cup notice that the bright-colored 
red leaves are clustered at the end of the stem, near the 
flowers. These perform the functions of showy floral 
parts (see Lesson XVIL), and are called petaloid 
leaves. 

II. Surface. 

Examine the surfaces of the leaves of the plants 
mentioned in the preceding group ; also fresh leaves of 
Petunia, and herbarium specimens of leaves of the 
Sunflower, Hazel, Mullein, Blackberry, Burdock, etc. 
Notice that some are entirely smooth, i.e., free from sur- 
face appendages, while others are variously clothed with 
minute waxy particles, glands, hairs, scales, or spines, 
these differences giving rise to the use of the following 
terms: glabrous , glaucous, scabrous, glandular ', pubescent, 
jpuberulent, woolly, tomentose, villose, floccose, spinose. 



THE LEAF. 55 

Apply these terms as far as possible to the specimens 
before you. 

III. Texture. 

Leaves differ also as regards their thiCKness and 
texture. Compare the fresh leaves already mentioned, 
and also fresh leaves of English Ivy, Ice-plant, etc., and 
notice that the terms membranous, herbaceous, coria- 
ceous, succulent, etc., express the differences between 
them in this respect. 

IV. Vernation. 

The manner in which the blade of the leaf is folded in 
the bud, or the vernation of the leaf, is also of interest. 

a. Take fresh leaf-buds of Geranium and other 
house-plants, and alcoholic specimens of leaf-buds of 
Ground-ivy, Oak, Apple, Fern, Currant, Common Violet, 
Yellow-dock, etc., 1 all of which should be collected when 
the leaves are beginning to unfold. 

Pick the buds to pieces, observe the various ways in 
which the leaves are folded in the bud, and apply the 
following terms, expressing kinds of vernation : straight, 
inflexed, conduplicate, convolute, circinate, plicate, invo- 
lute, revolute. 

b. Make diagrams or sketches from the specimens 
to illustrate the kinds of vernation. 

V. The Petiole and Stipules. 

The leaf has thus far been considered with special 
reference to the blade. The remaining parts of the leaf, 
the petiole and stipules, also require attention. 

1 The alcoholic specimens should be soaked in water for a few 
hours before being used. 



56 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

a. The Petiole. Compare the leaves of Geranium, 
Willow, Carnation, Plantain, etc., using fresh or herba- 
rium specimens. Notice the variation in the following 
characters : — 

1. Length, — the petiole being long or short, or 

even absent, in which case the leaf is sessile. 

2. Form of cross-section, — being compressed, terete, 

grooved, etc. 

3. Surface and color, — the variation in these char- 

acters being the same as in the blade. 

b. The Stipules: — 

1. Search for the stipules in the leaves of the Wil- 

low, Clover, Greenbrier (Smilax), Common Lo- 
cust (with branch), Smartweed, Rose, Maple, 
etc. In herbarium specimens be sure that the 
entire leaf is collected ; notice that the stipules 
vary greatly in size and form, the form, mar- 
gin, and apex assuming the forms exhibited by 
the blade. Are the stipules always present ? 

2. Notice that the stipules are often green and leaf- 

like, or membranous ; but they may be of spe- 
cial forms, being sometimes changed to tendrils, 
spines, or sheaths. 
e. Make a full description of the stipules of the 
leaves before you. 

VI. Special Forms of Leaves. 

Materials required : Fresh branch of Lilac which has 
been in water for days, so that the buds are somewhat 
developed; herbarium specimens of leaves of the Pea; 



THE LEAF. 57 

branches (including those of the season in which they 
were collected) of Barberry and Gooseberry ; fresh speci- 
mens of Onion, Potato, and alcoholic specimens of the 
rootstock of Solomon' s-seal, or Mandrake. The leaves 
heretofore considered nearly all serve the purpose of 
ordinary foliage-leaves ; i.e., they are chlorophyl-bear- 
ingj assimilating organs of the plant. Many leaves, 
however, serve other purposes than this, the more com- 
mon and striking of these special forms being the 
following : — 

a. Bud-scales. That these are leaves is clearly 
shown by the Lilac, in which there is a gradual transi- 
tion from the outer brown bud-scales to green leaves, 
(See Lesson IX. II.) 

b. Tendrils. The Pea exhibits a modification of a 
part of the leaf into tendrils. Do these tendrils branch ? 
Notice the arrangement of the branches. To what do 
they correspond ? 

c. Spines. Examine the branches of Barberry. Note 
the spines, some single, others three-parted. Observe 
the arrangement of these spines on the stem. Are there 
buds or branches (developed buds) in their axils ? If so, 
the spines are leaves. 

On the young shoots, notice that some of the spines 
have their three lobes connected by a web, the spines on 
these shoots, in fact, showing a gradual transition from 
the true leaf to the spinous state. To what part of the 
leaf do the spines correspond ? Compare the spines of 
the Gooseberry. 

d. Bulb-scales. 



58 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

1. Examine the bulb of an Onion, preferably one 

that has sprouted. Notice that the outer coats 
are membranous, each one bearing a fragment 
of a dried leaf above. Remove these, and notice 
that the inner coats are fleshy, each also bear- 
ing a part of a leaf. Remove some of the 
fleshy coats, and notice that on some of the 
innermost coats the leaves are perfect. 

The scales, or coats, are fleshy bases of 
leaves. 

2. Make a longitudinal section of the bulb through 

the centre, and apply the test given in c, Do 
you find buds in the axils of the outer scales ? 
Of the inner ones ? 

3. Compare the scattered scales on other forms of 

underground stems, such as the rootstocks of 
Solomon' s-seal, or Mandrake, and apply the 
same test. Are they leaves ? 

What is the minute scale on the lower side 

of the " eye " of the Potato-tuber ? 

e. Fly-traps and Pitchers. Leaves may be peculiarly 

modified for the purpose of entrapping insects, as in the 

case of Ely-traps and Pitcher-plants ; and these should 

be noticed if specimens for illustration are available. 

/. Leaves modified into bracts, and into floral organs, 
will be discussed in subsequent lessons. 

Write a full discussion of the special forms of leaves, 
stating in each case the reasons for the belief that they 
are leaves. 



INFLORESCENCE. 59 



LESSON XVI. 

Inflorescence. 

Materials required: Herbarium specimens of flower- 
clusters of the following plants : Larkspur, Mandrake, 
Shepherd 7 s-purse (both young and old clusters), AYhite 
Ash, Lily-of-the-Valley, Wild Sarsaparilla, Carrot, Plan- 
tain, Wheat, Poplar, Blue Grass, Grape, Phlox, Elder, 
etc. (The fruit-clusters of many of the species, dried 
without pressure, will be quite as useful). Also fresh 
flower-clusters of Geranium and Calla. 

I. Make a general comparison of the several flower- 
clusters. Note the differences in the compactness of the 
clusters, their form, size, and number, and arrangement 
of the flowers in each. 

These characters determine the mode of flowering 
of the plant, its Anthotaxy, or Inflorescence. 

II. Parts of the Flower-cluster. 

Examine the flower-cluster of the Larkspur. ISTote 
that : — 

a. The flowers are arranged along a central stem, or 
floral axis. Observe : — 

1. The part of the axis included in the flower- 

cluster, — the rhachis. 

2. If the naked stem be continued below the lowest 

flower to form the stalk of the flower-cluster, 
it forms a common peduncle. 



60 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Sometimes the peduncle rises directly from 
the ground, — a scape. (See Lessox XXIX. 
II. a.) 

3. The individual flower attached to the rhachis by 
a stalk, — the pedicel. 

b. Each pedicel springs in the axil of a small, narrow 
leaflet, the bract. When several bracts, or leaves, are set 
to form a whorl beneath a flower or flower-cluster, they 
constitute an involucre. 

In the plants before us, notice that the bracts vary 
in length, color, surface, general outline, margin, and 
apex, much as leaves do. 

What are bracts, as determined by their position, 
and the form and structure of many of them ? 

c. Compare the several flower-clusters again. Is 
the rhachis always distinct ? The common peduncle ? 
Are the pedicels always present ? Flowers without 
pedicels are said to be sessile. 

May the flowers be without bracts and bractlets ? 

Ill INDETERMINATE INFLORESCENCE. 

Notice the position of the flowers in the Larkspur 
and Shepherd 's-purse. 

a. Are any of them terminal on the stem ? Notice 
that the lowest flowers in each cluster are the first to 
open, the remaining ones opening successively upward. 
Such order of inflorescence is said to be indeterminate, 
or centripetal. 

What is the origin of these terms ? 



INFLORESCENCE. Gl 

b. Select all the clusters of the indeterminate kind 
from the series in hand, and compare them. Notice 
that they may readily be divided into two classes : 

1. Those in which the flowers have pedicels ; i.e., 

pedicellate. 

2. Those in which the flowers are without pedicels ; 

i.e., sessile. 

c. Among the pedicellate kinds the following forms 
may be recognized : — 

1. Flowers, several or many, on elongated rhachis ; 

pedicels nearly equal, the flower-cluster being 
a raceme. 

2. Flowers as in 1, but the lower pedicels elongated 

so that the lower flowers are brought up to 
nearly the level of the uppermost ones. The 
cluster is nearly flat-topped, and is called a 
corymb. 

3. Ehachis wanting, the pedicels all proceeding from 

the end of the common peduncle, — an umbel. 

cl. Of the clusters with sessile flowers the following 
are the most common forms : — 

1. Flowers closely arranged on an elongated axis, 

the cluster being a spike. 

2. Loose, usually drooping, forms of 1 ; flowers 

mostly small, and with scale-like bracts, — the 
cluster being a catkin. 

3. Erect, rigid spikes enclosed in a leaflike or petal- 

oid bract called a spat lie. The flower-cluster 
is a spadix. 



62 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

4. Like 1, but the floral axis very short, so that the 
length of the cluster is scarcely greater than 
its diameter. The cluster is a head. The en- 
larged and short rhachis is called the common 
receptacle, 
e. Many flower-clusters are branched or compound. 
The following are. more common forms : — 

1. Racemes may again be arranged in racemes, the 

clusters being branched or compound, thus 
producing compound racemes. 

2. Similarly we may have compound corymbs, com- 

pound umbels, and comp>ound spikes. 

3. A loosely, more or less irregularly compound 

cluster is called a panicle. 

4. A more compact cluster, in form and mode of divis- 

ion like a bunch of grapes, is called a thyrsus, 
f. Apply these terms to the specimens in hand, and 
make diagrammatic sketches to illustrate each kind. 

IV. Determinate Inflorescence. 

Examine a fresh flower-cluster of cultivated Gera- 
nium in which some of the flowers are still in bud. 

a. Notice that the innermost flowers, which cor- 
respond to the uppermost or terminal flowers in an 
elongated cluster, are the first to open. Hence the in- 
florescence is determinate, or centrifugal. Why cen- 
trifugal ? 

b. Select all the determinate flower-clusters from the 
specimens before you, and notice that these may also be 
divided into two groups : — 



INFLORESCENCE. 63 

1. Those in which the flowers are pedicellate: 

2. Those in which the flowers are sessile. 

c. Of the pedicellate forms the following are the 
most common : — 

1. The flowers in a loose cluster, more or less branch- 

ing, but the terminal flower of each branch open- 
ing before the lateral flowers. A cluster of this 
kind, which may be of various shapes, is a cyme. 

2. If the cyme is quite compact, and nearly flat- 

topped, it is a fascicle. 

3. A loose, much-branched cyme is a compound cyme, 
cl. The more frequent forms with sessile flowers are 

the following : — 

1. A compact, rounded cluster similar to the head, but 

centrifugal in inflorescence, called a glomerule. 

2. A series of glomerules arranged in whorls in an 

interrupted, spike-like cluster called a verticil- 
last er. 

e. Apply these terms to the specimens before you, 
and make diagrammatic sketches of each kind. 

V. Solitary Inflorescence. 

Both indeterminate and determinate inflorescence 
may be solitary, and the flowers may be pedicellate or 
sessile. In the indeterminate kind the solitary flowers 
are remote, axillary, while in the determinate kind they 
terminate the main stem or branches. 

If solitary flowers are pedicellate the stalk is called 
a peduncle. 



64 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

VI. Mixed Inflorescence. 

The two kinds of inflorescence are more or less 
mixed in the same compound flower-cluster, the order 
of inflorescence being in part indeterminate, and in part 
determinate. 

Such inflorescence is mixed. 

VII. Prepare an illustrated outline of all the terms 
employed in this lesson. 



LESSON XVII. 
The Flower. 

Materials required : Fresh specimens of the Early 
Wake-robin (Trillium nivale Rid.) 1 , in flower. 

I. The Parts of the Flower. 

Examine the flower, beginning with the outermost 
parts. Notice : — 

a. The outermost whorl of the floral envelope, the 
calyx, consisting of three green, leaf -like bodies, the 
sepals. 

b. The inner whorl of the floral envelope, the corolla, 
consisting of three white parts, larger than the sepals, 
called petals. The calyx and corolla together constitute 
the floral covering, or perianth. 

1 This is one of the earliest flowers to appear in the spring, but if 
this lesson is reached before fresh flowers can be collected, alcoholic 
specimens may be used ; or, still better, the lesson may be adapted to 
the cultivated Geranium discussed in the following lesson. 



THE FLOWER. 65 

Kemove one petal and the two adjacent sepals with- 
out disturbing the remainder of the flower. 
Observe : — 

c. A whorl of six stalked, narrow, yellow bodies, 
called stamens, collectively forming the androeciwrn. Re- 
move one stamen, and note that it consists of two parts. 

1. The white, smooth stalk, or filament. 

2. The yellow, two-lobed body on the filament, called 

the anther. 
Examine the anther carefully. If it is not too old, 
note : — 

i. The green extension of the filament lying along 
one side of the anther, called the connective. 

ii. The two large yelloAV parallel lobes, or sacs, be- 
tween which the connective lies, called the cells 
of the anther, each itself slightly longitudi- 
nally two-lobed. 

in. The anther-cells, filled with a yellow, more or 
less cohesive substance, — the pollen. 

Under the microscope this is shown to consist 
of nearly spherical, slightly roughened, minute 
bodies called pollen-grains. 

iv. In an older anther notice that the anther-cells 
break, dehisce, longitudinally along the lines 
separating the two lobes of each cell, thus 
discharging the pollen. 

d. Remove some of the stamens, and notice an 
enlarged body in the centre of the flower, terminat- 
ing above in three slender arms. This is the pistil, or 
gynmcium. Make the following observations : — 



66 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

1. Examine with a lens the upper (inner) surface of 

each of the three arms. Notice the rough, 
moist surface, the stigmatic surface, to which 
some pollen-grains probably adhere. How far 
down does this extend ? That part of each 
arm bearing the stigmatic surface is a stigma. 

2. Notice the green basal portions of the arms below 

the stigmas. Each is a style. 

3. Notice the large green triangular basal portion of 

the pistil, — the ovary. 

This rests on the enlarged end of the pedun- 
cle, called the receptacle, or torus, to which the 
stamens, corolla, and calyx are also attached. 

With a sharp knife make a transverse sec- 
tion of the ovary near the middle. With a lens 
examine the interior of the ovary, and notice : — 

i. The three compartments, cells, or loculi, separated 
by partitions, or walls. 

ii. In each one of the cells a number of small, round- 
ish bodies, — the ovules. These are attached at 
the inner angle of each cell, on a ridge, or area, 
called the placenta. 

The arrangement of the ovules in the cell, i.e., 
their manner of attachment or distribution in 
the ovary, is called placentation. 
in. Carefully examine a single ovule with a good 
lens, or, still better, with a compound micro- 
scope. Note that it consists of two parts : 
the main body of the ovule, and a short stalk, 
or funiculus, which is the free end of a much 



THE FLO WEB. 67 

longer stalk which lies against the body of the 
ovule, and is consolidated with it. (See Fig. 
9B4.) 
iv. Under favorable circumstances in sections spe- 
cially prepared the following facts may be 
observed : — 

The outer part of the ovule consists of one 
or two coats, perforated at the tip of the ovule 
(here turned back so as to be near the base) 
by a small opening, the micropyle (Fig. 9 B 5). 
Within the walls, or coats, of the ovule lies 
the comparatively large embryo-sac (Fig. 9 
B 2), in which is found, immediately under 
the micropyle, a small nucleated cell called 
the obspliere (Fig. 9 B 3), with which are 
associated other cells, the discussion of which 
cannot here be taken up to advantage. 
II. The Physiology of the Flower. 
For the proper comprehension of a flower, a study of 
the functions, or uses, of the several parts is necessary. 
For this purpose we may conveniently divide the 
parts of the flower into two sets : a, the essential or- 
gans, the andrcecium and gyncecium ; and b, the non- 
essential parts, the calyx and corolla. 

a. The ^Essential Organs. 

1. As may easily be seen, the ovary is the part which 
develops into the fruit, and the ovules develop 
into seeds. But the ovules will not so develop 
unless fertilized. This is accomplished by the 
pollen in the following manner : — 



68 



ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



The pollen must first be deposited upon 
the moist stigmatic surface (Fig. 9 A 5), to 
which it readily adheres. 

Each pollen-grain is a cell, with distinct 
cell-walls (Fig. 9 C 1), and a dense granular 
nucleus (Fig. 9 C 2) imbedded in the general 
cell-contents (Fig. 9 C 3). 




Fig. 9. 

A. Longitudinal section of the ovary of Trillium nivale (magnified). 
1, stigma; 2, style; 3, cell of the ovary ; 4, ovule; 5, pollen-grain on the 
stigmatic surface ; 6, pollen-tube entering the micropyle of the ovule 
below. 

B. An ovule of same (magnified). 

1, wall of the ovule; 2, embryo-sac; 3, oosphere with its nucleus ; 4, funi- 
culus ; 5, micropyle ; 6, pollen-tube entering the ovule ; 7, nuclei. 

C. Pollen-grain (magnified). 
1, cell-wall ; 2, nucleus ; 3, general cell-contents. 



THE FLOWER. 69 

Shortly after the pollen-grain has been 
deposited upon the stigmatic surface it germi- 
nates ; i.e., the outer wall breaks, and the con- 
tents, including the nucleus, are pushed out in 
the form of a slender pollen-tube (Fig. 9 A 6). 

This pollen-tube penetrates through the cen- 
tral, hollow, or soft, loose-celled portion of the 
style, into the cavity of the ovary, and enters 
the micropyle of the ovule, where the large 
special cell, the oosphere, awaits it (Fig. 9 A 
and B). By this time the nucleus has divided 
into several nuclei (Fig. 9B7); and when the 
pollen-tube conies in contact with the oosphere 
(Fig. 9 B 3), one of the nuclei unites with the 
oosphere, and the latter is fertilized. 

The fertilized oosphere, or oospore as it is 
now called, then grows by cell-division, devel- 
oping into the embryo plantlet, with its cotyle- 
don, plumule, and radicle, the embryonic stem 
and root combined, while the seed matures 
on the parent plant. In flowering plants the 
length of the pollen-tube varies with the length 
of the style ; but in all of them the process of 
fertilization must be accomplished essentially 
as described above, or no seed will be produced. 
2. It will be noticed that in this, and other flowers, 
the anthers are not usually in direct contact 
with the stigmatic surface, hence some external 
agency must carry the pollen from the anthers 
to the stigmas. 

The agencies most frequently concerned in 



70 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

this work are wind, water, and animals, notably 
insects. 

The transfer of pollen from the anther to 
the stigma constitutes pollination, which in all 
cases must precede fertilization. 

The various adaptations of the parts of the 
flower to pollination will be considered more 
fully in subsequent lessons. • 

b. The Non-essential Organs. 

The calyx and corolla are not directly concerned in 
the production of seed, hence are not essential to the 
flower. 

Their uses may be briefly stated as follows : — 

1. They serve to protect the essential organs in the 

bud. 

2. When fully developed they may, by their form, 

size, and position, protect the essential organs 
against rain, wind, and undesirable insect 
visitors. 

3. By their bright colors they may serve to attract 

the attention of insects which are useful in 
the work of pollination ; and their form, size, 
and arrangement may be such that insects of 
this kind will find a resting-place while at 
work. 
v The perianth, then, is chiefly of use in pol- 

lination, and as a protection to the essential 
organs. 



THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE FLOWER. 71 



LESSON XVIII. 
The Morphology of the Flower. 

Materials required : Fresli flowers of Trillium nivale, 
house Geranium, Fuchsia, Primrose. Pussy-willow/ and 
other accessible forms. Some should be. in bud. Also 
a fresh flower of Cactus, a few Roses, and a Peony if it 
can be obtained. 

Compare the flowers of Trillium, Geranium, Fuchsia, 
and Primrose, and observe the variation in the several 
sets of organs in the following order : — 

I. The Calyx. 

Notice the variation in the following characters : — 

a. Division. Note that the sepals of Trillium and 
Geranium are distinct, the calyx being polysepalous, 
while those of Fuchsia and Primrose are united, the 
calyx being monosepalous, or gamosepalous. 

b. Number, form, color, texture, and surface of the 
sepals. Note that in these characters the sepals, or 
lobes, vary much as do leaves, the same terms being 
applicable to both. 

II. The Corolla. 

Observe the following characters : — 

1 If this is desired very early in the season, the flowers may be 
forced by putting twigs into water, and keeping them in a warm room 
for a few r days. (See Appendix B.) 



72 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

a. Division. The corolla, like the calyx, varies as 
to the separation of its parts, being polypetalous or 
monopetalous (gamopetalous). Note also the tube and 
limb in the corolla of the Primrose. 

b. Number, form, color, texture, and surface of petals 
or lobes. — Compare the several forms, and note that 
in these characters the petals vary like sepals and 
leaves. 

c. Form of the Corolla. The variations in the form 
of the corolla may be expressed by the following te'rms : 
tubular ', funnel-form , bell-shaped, labiate, salver-shaped, 
rotate, papilionaceous, ligulate, rosaceous, sac-shaped, etc. 1 
Name the forms of the corollas before you. 

d. Position of the petals. Note that the petals of 
Trillium are attached to the torus ; such are hypogy- 
nous : while those of Fuchsia are placed on the calyx, 
and are perigynous. 

What is the position of the petals (or corolla) in the 
remaining flowers before you ? 

e. Length and position. Notice the relative length 
and position of the parts of the calyx and corolla in each 
flower. 

f. JEstivation. The manner in which the sepals 
and petals are folded in bud is of interest, and is the 
cestivation of the flower. It may be valvate, reduplicate, 
involute, imbricate, plicate, or supervolute. 

Observe the kinds of aestivation in the buds before 
you, and name each. 

1 For these and other terms in this lesson, see Glossary, Appen- 
dix D. 



THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE FLOWER. 73 

III. The Andrcecium. 

Compare the stamens in the several flowers. Observe 
the variation in the following characters : — 

a. Number and length of the stamens, and their posi- 
tion with reference to the parts of the corolla ; i.e., oppo- 
site or alternate. 

b. The insertion of the stamens. They may be 
hypogynous, epipetalous, perigynous or epigynous. Ob- 
serve this in your specimens. 

c. The union of stamens. In some of the flowers 
the stamens are free from each other, or distinct. In 
Geranium they are united by their filaments, being mon- 
adelphons. In other flowers they may be diadelphous, 
triadelphous, etc. 

When united by their anthers stamens are syngene- 
sious. 

d. The anthers. Make the following observations : — 

1. Compare their form, color, number of cells, and 

dehiscence. 

The dehiscence may be longitudinal, trans- 
verse, valvate, or porous. 

2. Notice the attachment to the filament, the anther 

being innate, adnate, or versatile. When 
adnate, it is either introrse or extrorse, accord- 
ing as it faces inward or outward in dehis- 
cence. 

3. Compare the pollen of the several flowers with 

special reference to its color and abundance. 

e. The filaments. Compare the length, form, surface, 
and color in the several forms. 



74 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

IV. The Gyncecium. 

Compare the corresponding parts of the pistils of 
the several flowers with each other as follows : — 

a. Compare the stigmas and styles with special ref- 
erence to number, form, color, surface, and division, using 
familiar terms such as were used for leaves, etc. 

b. Compare the ovaries. Note : — 

1. The number, size, form, and surface of the several 

kinds. 

2. The position of the ovary. When free from the 

calyx it is superior ; when wholly united with 
the calyx, so that it seems to project below it, 
it is inferior ; and when partially united it is 
half-superior or half -inferior. 

Find these forms among your specimens. 

3. Make transverse sections of the ovaries, and note 

the number of cells (loculi) and placentae, and 
the number, form, and size of ovules in each. 

The placentae are parietal, axile, or free-cen- 
tral, accordingly as the ovules are attached to 
the outer walls of the ovary, the inner angles 
formed by partitions, or septa, in a several- 
celled ovary, or on a central axis which is not 
united by septa with the outer walls. 

c. As to kind, or division, pistils are classed as fol- 
lows : — 

1. If there is but one cell, one placenta, one style, 
and one stigma, the pistil consists of a single 
carpet, qy pistil-leaf , and is a simple pistil. 



THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE FLOWER. <D 

2. If there are two or more cells, placentae, styles, 
or stigmas, the pistil is made up of more than 
one carpel, and is compound. 

V. The Torus. 

The torus varies more or less in size and form, usu- 
ally being simply the somewhat enlarged end of the 
pedicel or peduncle, but sometimes assuming other 
forms which may always be described in familiar 
terms. 

The ovary is sometimes separated from the torus 
proper by a fleshy, usually variously lobed and colored 
body called the disk. 

VI. Examine the flower of Trillium again. 
a. Note that : — 

1. It has both stamens and pistils, hence is perfect. 

2. In addition to these, it also has both calyx and 

corolla, and is complete. 

3. The sepals are equal in form and size, and are 

symmetrically placed around the centre of the 
flower. The same is true of each of the other 
sets of floral organs. Therefore the flower is 
regular, or actinomoiphic. 

4. The flower has all its parts in sets of three, or 

a multiple of three ; there being three sepals, 
three petals, six stamens, and three carpels in 
the pistil. The arrangement of these parts is 
alternate, the petals alternating with the sepals : 
the outer set of three larger stamens with the 
petals ; the smaller inner set of stamens with 
the outer set ; and the three cells or angles of 



76 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

the ovary with the inner stamens. (See plan 
of the flower, Fig. 10.) 

A flower whose numerical plan is uniform 
throughout, and whose parts are regularly 
placed in alternating series, is said to be sym- 
metrical. 
A flower which is complete, regular, and symmetrical 
may for purposes of illustration be considered a typical 
flower. The flower of Trillium is practically a typical 
flower. 




Fig. 10. 

Plan of the flower of Trillium niva. 

Showing the number and relative position of the parts of the calyx, 
corolla, androecium, and gynoecium. 

b. Compare the flowers of Geranium. They are irreg- 
ular (zygomorphic) and unsymmetrical. Why ? 

c. Compare the flowers of the Pussy-willow. They 
are imperfect and incomplete. Why ? 

d. Draw plans of all the flowers before you. 

VII. The Flower a Branch. 

The flower is a branch specially modified for repro- 
ductive purposes. That it is a branch is shown by the 
following facts : — 



THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE FLOWER. 77 

a. The flower is developed from buds, which are at 
first indistinguishable from leaf -buds, and which, like 
leaf-buds, are axillary or terminal. (See Lesson I.) 

b. The parts of the floiver are modified leaves. 

1. That the parts of the floral envelope are leaves 

may often easily be seen. 

In the Cactus-flower, for example, there is 
usually a perfect gradation from the small, 
fleshy leaves through sepals to petals. 

Sepals and petals often resemble leaves in 
form and venation, and the former also in 
color and function, being often green chloro- 
phyl-bearing organs. 

2. The stamens and pistils, while usually very dis- 

tinct from the perianth, are sometimes con- 
nected with it by intermediate forms. Thus 
in Eoses, sometimes some of the stamens are 
partly developed into petals, while in very 
double ones all the stamens, and even some 
or all of the pistils, become petals. Other 
double flowers, such as the Peony, show the 
same thing. The structure of a stamen is not 
unlike that of a leaf. The filament corre- 
sponds to the petiole, the connective to the 
mid-rib, and the cells of the anther to the two 
halves of the blade. 

The structure of the pistil is also like that 
of a leaf folded and united at the edges. 
The style corresponds to the tapering apex, 
the tip of which forms the stigma. 



78 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

The ovules are borne on the united edges 
which form the placenta. 

The leaves, or carpels, when more than one, 
may be united in a variety of ways, as noticed 
in Sec. IV. of this lesson. 

In fruit the carpel often spreads out, and 
assumes a leaf -like form. 

3. All the parts of the flower sometimes revert to 

true leaves. In such cases a tuft or rosette of 
leaves appears instead of the flower. The 
Windflower, Strawberry, and other species fur- 
nish occasional illustrations. 

4. In rare instances buds develop in the axils of 

parts of the flower, leafy branches or flowers 
growing out of the flower in such cases. 

Flowers of the Jessamine and Eose some- 
times furnish illustrations. 1 



LESSON XIX. 

The Fruit and Seed. 

Materials required : As noted under each subdivision 
of the lesson. Notice : — 

1. Flowers are produced for the purpose of developing 
fruit and seeds. 

1 These special forms should he secured when ohtainahle, and 
either pressed, or preserved in alcohol. 



THE FRUIT AND SEED. 79 

2. The matured ovary, with such other parts of the 

flower as become consolidated with it during the 
process of growth and ripening, forms the fruit. 

3. The ripened, fertilized ovule is the seed. 

The Fruit. 

Examine the following series of fruits : dried fruits 
of Sunflower, Goosefoot, Corn, Maple, Hazel, Butternut, 
Marsh-marigold, Milkweed, Pea, Tick-trefoil, Tobacco, 
Jimson-weed, Lilac, Poppy, Purslane, Black Mustard, 
Shepherd Vpurse ; alcoholic specimens of fruits of 
Cherry (both young and mature), Gooseberry, Black- 
berry, Strawberry ; Fresh fruits of Apple, Squash, and 
Orange. 

These fruits are each the product of one flower. 
A. Fruits developed from one Flower. 

Notice that in a general way the fruits which are 
the product of one flower may be classed into two 
groups : those which do not open or dehisce regularly to 
discharge the seeds, called indehiscent fruits-, those 
which dehisce regularly, usually along definite lines, 
called dehiscent fruits. 

I. Indehiscent Fruits. 

Separate the indehiscent fruits from the others. 
Notice that they vary much in form, size, etc. 

Most of these indehiscent fruits are the product of 
a single pistil, a few only (those of the Rose, Blackberry, 
and Strawberry (See Lessons XXXIII. and XXXIY.) 
being developed from several jiistils in the same flower. 
Note : — 



80 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

a. Simple Fruits, — the product of single pistils. 
Of the indehiscent fruits produced from a single pistil, 
whether simple or compound, two general forms will be 
recognized : those in which the fruit dries in ripening ; 
and those in which some part, or all, of the fruit 
becomes fleshy at maturity. 

1. Dry Fruits. As a type of the dry fruits, take the 

fruit of the Sunflower, the so-called seed : — 
i. Make longitudinal and transverse sections, and 
notice that the fruit is one-celled and one- 
seeded, the matured wall of the ovary, the 
pericarp, being uniformly hard, and enclos- 
ing the seed, from which it separates easily. 
Such a fruit is an achenium. 
n. Compare the utricle, nut, grain, and samara l 
with the achenium, selecting specimens of 
each kind from the series of fruits. 

2. Of the fruits which become fleshy at maturity, 

two classes are recognized : (a) those which 
contain a hard stone ; and (b) those which 
are fleshy throughout, 
(a). Stone Fruits. Take the cherry as a type. 

i. Notice that it is covered wuth an epidermis, 
within which lies the pulpy, fleshy part of 
the fruit, in which is imbedded the hard stone. 
Break the stone. What does it contain ? 

Make a section through the middle of a 
young cherry. Notice that there is no hard 

1 See Glossary, Appendix D, for these and other terms in this 
lesson. 



THE FRUIT AND SEED. 81 

stone within, but, instead, a white fleshy- 
layer, which almost insensibly grades into 
the pulpy part of the fruit. The epidermis 
— the fleshy part of the fruit — and the wall 
of the stone together form the pericarp), the 
seed being within the stone. 
Such a fruit is a drupe. . 
ii. Compare the Butternut, a try ma,, with the drupe. 
(b). Fleshy Fruits, proper. Make a section both 
ways through a Gooseberry. 

i. Notice that the walls and septa of the ovary have 

become fleshy, the seeds being imbedded in 

the pulpy mass. Such a fruit is called a berry. 

ii. Compare the orange, hesperidiam ; the squash, 

pepo ; and the apple, pome, with the berry. 

b. Aggregated Fruits. These are indehiscent fruits 

produced by the consolidation of several pistils in one 

flower. Such are the Blackberry, Strawberry, and 

Bose-hip. 

1. Study the Blackberry as a type. Notice that 

each of the pistils (of which there are several 
in one flower) has developed into a small 
drupe. The fruit formed by the union of the 
small drupes is sometimes called an etcerio. 

2. Compare the Strawberry and the hip of the Bose, 

additional forms of aggregated fruits, with the 
etserio. 
II. Dehiscext Bruits. 

These may be developed from simple or compound 
pistils. Notice that the dehiscence may take place in a 
variety of ways : — 



82 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

a. In the fruits developed from simple pistils, as 
illustrated by the Milkweed, Pea. and Tick-trefoil, the 
dehiscence takes place either along one line, or suture, 
only, the fruit being a follicle ; or along tivo opposite 
sutures, thus dividing the pericarp into two parts, or 
valves, the fruit being either a legume (Pea), or a foment 
(Tick-trefoil). Compare the two forms. 

b. For types of dehiscent fruits which are developed 
from compound pistils, and generally called capsules, 
study the fruits of Tobacco, Jimson-weed, Lilac, Poppy, 
Purslane, Black Mustard, and Shepherd's-purse. 

1. Notice that dehiscence takes place in one of the 

following ways : — 
i. The capsule may split along the septa, each 
one being divided, the dehiscence being sep- 
ticidal. 
ii. The capsule may split between the septa, each 
valve so formed bearing at the middle a 
septum when present. Such dehiscence is 
loculicidal. 
in. When in loculicidal dehiscence the valves in 
addition fall away from the septa, which 
usually remain united at the centre, the 
dehiscence is septif vagal. 
iv. Dehiscence may also be porous and circumcis- 
sile. 
Find all of these types among the specimens before 
you, and illustrate each kind by a diagram. 

2. Examine the capsules, and notice the several 

kinds : — 



THE FRUIT AND SEED. 83 

i. Take the fruits of Tobacco, Jimson-weed, Lilac, 
and Poppy, as types of the true capsule. 
Note the difference in the size, surface, 
number of cells, and modes of dehiscence 
of the several forms. The number of cells 
in the fruit is not always the same as the 
number of cells in the ovary. 
ii. Compare with the true capsules the fruits of 
Black Mustard, ShepherdVpurse, and Purs- 
lane, types respectively of the siliaue, 
silicle, and pyxis, which are special or 
modified forms of the capsule. 

B. Multiple Pruits. 

Get alcoholic specimens of Mulberries, and fruits 
of Pineapple and Pine, As a type of the group study 
the Mulberry or Pineapple. The fruit really consists 
of a large number of small fruits united with each 
other, each of them the product of one flower. Such a 
fruit is called a sorosis. Compare with this the strobile, 
or cone, of the Pine. 

The Seed. 

Examine the seeds of the Bean, Pea, Apple, Sun- 
flower, Corn, etc., which have been soaked in water. 
Make sections of the several seeds. Notice that : — 
a. The seed is covered by one or two coats. 1 
The outer, or testa, is usually hard, and in some 
seeds is variously ornamented on the surface, being 

1 In the fruit of the Sunflower be careful not to mistake the peri- 
carp for the seed-coats. 



84? ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

tubercidate, pitted, hairy, etc. The inner coat, when 
present, is usually thin and membranous. 

The embryo consists of the cotyledons, plumule, and 
radicle (see Lesson VII., iv.), and is contained within 
the seed-coats, and either wholly occupies the space, or 
is imbedded in various ways in a quantity of nourish- 
ing matter which is called the albumen. Seeds like the 
latter are albuminous, like the former ex-albuminous. 

In ex-albuminous seeds the nourishing matter is 
stored up in the fleshy cotyledons. 

Dispersion of Fruits and Seeds. 

In addition to the seeds and fruits already enume- 
rated procure the following : Fruits of Balloon-vine, This- 
tle, Burdock, Spanish-needles ; seeds of Catalpa. 

In order that a young plant may properly develop, 
it is necessary that the seed from which it is to grow 
be removed some distance from the parent plant, which 
otherwise would interfere with its growth. This is ac- 
complished in several ways, and in all cases the seed 
or fruit is modified in structure and form to aid in its 
transportation. 

Fruits and seeds may be dispersed as follows : — 

a. By water. In such cases the seed is protected 
by outer impervious and thickened light (porous) coats. 
See how many of the seeds and fruits will sink in 
water. 

b. By wind. In such cases the seed or fruit is light 
and buoyant, either through inflation of the coats, or 
because of appendages, such as wings and hairs. 



THE WAKE-ROBIN AND THE LILIES. 85 

c. By animals. Animals transport seeds and fruits 
in a variety of ways : 

1. The outer part of the fruit may be fleshy and 

palatable, as well as bright-colored and odor- 
ous, to attract animals. 

The seeds in such cases are either bitter or 
otherwise unpalatable, or they are enclosed in 
a hard shell or stone which makes them indi- 
gestible. They therefore escape destruction. 

2. Other fruits and seeds are variously provided 

with hooks, spines, glands, etc., by which they 
adhere to the bodies of animals, and are thus 
carried about. 

d. By hygroscopism. This results from the warping 
or unequal drying of fruits, which, when disturbed, 
burst suddenly and scatter the seeds. 

Divide the seeds and fruits before you into groups, 
according to their manner of dispersion, and observe in 
each kind the special modifications which aid in its 
transportation. 



LESSON XX. 

The Wake-robin and the Lilies. 

Materials required : Fresh specimens of the Early 
Wake-robin ( Trillium nivale Rid.) l in flower and fruit. 
Similar specimens of Bellwort, Lily-of-the-valley, False 

1 Any other species of Trillium may be used, or the lesson may 
be commenced with any of the other species listed. 



86 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Solomon's-seal, Solomoir s-seal, Asparagus, any true Lily 
( Lilium), Tulip, Dog-tooth Violet, Onion, Hyacinth. 

A. The Wake-robin. 

Examine the plant of the early Wake-robin in detail. 
Notice : — 

I. The Plant as a Whole. 

What can you say of its general appearance ? Its 
size ? Does it flower the first year ? Note : — 

a. The root and rootstock. The number, form, tex- 
ture, and surface of the roots. Are they primary or 
secondary ? Notice that they pass out from a short 
horizontal rootstock. Examine this carefully. How do 
you know that it is an underground stem ? Describe 
its form, size, surface, etc. Note particularly its older, 
or posterior, extremity. 

Observe that in older plants the rootstock often gives 
off one or two small branches, which appear like lateral 
buds. 

b. The stem. Note its direction, texture, color, and 
surface. 

Make a transverse section of the stem. What is its 
structure ? 

c. The leaves. Note their number and arrangement. 
Study the parts of the leaf, — the venation, form, 

margin, apex, surface, etc. 

If you have plants of a season, or rootstocks with the 
bud-like branches (see a) bearing leaves, compare their 
leaves with those of the ordinary flowering form of the 
plant. 



THE WAKE-ROBIN AND THE LILIES. 87 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. What is the position of the solitary flower ? Is 
the inflorescence determinate or indeterminate ? Note 
the length and direction of the pednncle. 

b. Examine the flower. Is it perfect ? Complete ? 
Regular ? Symmetrical ? 

Examine the parts in detail : 

1. The calyx. Note the number, form, length, sur- 

face, color, of the sepals, as ascertained from 
the study of a number of flowers. Is there 
much variation in these characters ? 

2. The corolla. Describe the petals similarly. Note 

the insertion of the petals. 

Compare the length of petals and sepals. 

3. The andrcecium. Note the number of stamens, 

their insertion, position with reference to other 
parts of the flower, etc. Describe a single 
stamen fully, noting the color, length, surface, 
and form of the filament ; and the color, length, 
number of cells, dehiscence, attachment to fila- 
ment, etc., of the anther. Also color and abun- 
dance of pollen. 

4. The gynazcium. 

i. Review the characters of the pistil as deter- 
mined in Lessons XVII. and XVIII. 
Describe fully, noting, in addition to the 
characters already noticed, the form, color, 
surface, etc., of the parts of the pistil. 



88 ELEMENTABY BOTANY. 

ii. Examine the mature fruit. Note the num- 
ber of cells and seeds ; the character of 
the pericarp. What kind of a fruit is 
it ? Describe the seeds, stating number, 
form, color, surface, etc. 

5. Pollination. In a fully opened flower notice the 
relative position of the anthers and stigmas. 
Is self-fertilization possible ? What do the 
white petals indicate with reference to the 
method of pollination ? Do you find honey- 
glands ? Is the flower odorous ? 

Consider also the meteorological conditions 
which prevail at the season of the year when 
this plant flowers ; also the abundance of 
flower-visiting insects. Observe the flowers in 
the field on a bright day, and see if they are 
visited by insects. If so, note carefully the 
manner in which the insect enters the flower, 
and the parts of the flower with which it 
comes in contact. Examine the body of the 
insect also, and record the result of the obser- 
vations. 

What is the result of the insect's repeated 
visits to different flowers ? 

III. Habitat axd Distribution. 

Note the general surroundings of the plants in their 
native haunts, the kind of soil in which they grow, etc. ; 
i.e., their habitat. 

This species is distributed in the region from West- 
ern Pennsylvania to Kentucky, thence west to Minnesota 
and Iowa. 



THE WAKE-ROBIN AND THE LILIES. 89 

Write a complete description of the plant, including 
pollination, habitat, and distribution, and make detail 
drawings of a leaf and the parts of the flower. 

B. Related Species, 

I. Compare the other species listed, giving special 
attention to the following characters : — 

a. The plant, — its duration. 

b. The stem, — its texture ; kind of underground 
stem. 

c. The leaves, — venation and margin. 

d. The inflorescence, — are the flowers regular and 
symmetrical ? What is the numerical plan of the 
flower ? The number of cells in the ovary, and its 
position ? Are the sepals and petals similar ? Kinds 
of fruit, and number of seeds. 

II. Classifications 

a. The comparison shows that these species resemble 
each other in the following characters : — 

They are perennial herbs. The flowers are regular 
and symmetrical, their parts being in threes. The fruit 
is a few or many seeded capsule or berry. 

The leaves are entire, and parallel-veined, and the 
sepals and petals are alike. 

The Wake-robin is unlike the remaining forms in 
the last two characters, hence it is not a typical repre- 
sentative of the group in which it is placed. 

Plants possessing the enumerated characters are 
grouped together in the 



90 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Order LILIACE/E. 

The Lily Family. 

b. Notice that the plants compared differ from each 
other chiefly in the arrangement and venation of the 
leaves, the division of the styles, and the kind of fruit. 
Minor differences in inflorescence and in the form, color, 
etc., of parts may also be observed. 

The more important differences necessitate a division 
of the Order into groups, or Families, and each of these 
again, because of minor differences, is divided into 
Genera. In the following outline the genera (their 
names appearing in parenthesis) are indicated only by 
common examples. 

The following key will serve sufficiently for purposes 
of recognition : — 

Order LILIACE/E. 

Characters as given above. 

A. Leaves parallel-veined ; sepals and petals similar. 

Family I. — Liliacese. 
Style one ; fruit a capsule. 

The following belong to this family : — 

Lilies (Lilium), Tulip (Tulipa), Dog-tooth Violet 

(Erythronium), Onion (Allium), Hyacinth (Hyaein- 

thus). 

Family II. — Con vallarinese. 

Style one ; fruit a berry. 

The following belong here : — 

Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria), Solomon's-seal (Pol- 



THE WAKE-BOBIN AND THE LILIES. 91 

ygonatum), False Solomon's-seal (Smilacina), ■ Aspara- 
gus (Asparagus). 

Family III.— Uvulariese. 

Style three-cleft or three-parted ; leaves broad, not grass-like. 

The Bellwort (Uvularia) represents this family. 

B. Leaves netted-veined ; sepals and petals not similar. 

Family IV. — Trilliese. 

Leaves whorled. 

Represented by the Wake-robin (Trillium). 

Our species is Trillium nivale Biddell. 

Expand this outline, adding other characters, and 
make a comparison of the types of genera in each 
family. 

III. Distribution and Economic Importance. 

The plants of the Order Liliacece number about two 
thousand species, and are found in all climates. 

The order is of great importance, the plants of 
economic interest being of three kinds : — 

a. Food plants, — such as the Onion, Leek, Garlic, 
and Asparagus. 

b. Medicinal plants, — such as Aloe, yielding Aloes; 
Scilla, yielding Squills ; and Hellebore (Veratrum). 

c. Ornamental plants, — such as Lily-of-the-valley 
(Convallaria), Crown Imperial (Fritillaria), Day Lily 
(Hemerocallis), Hyacinth (Hyacinthus), Lilies, many 
species of the genus Liliuni, Tuberose (Pol iant lies), 
Tulip (Tulipa), several species of Yucca, etc. 

Many of our finest cultivated plants belong to this 
order. 



92 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XXI. 

The Soft Maple. 

ACER DASYCARPUM* EHRH. 

Materials required : Maple twigs in full bloom, either 
those caused to bloom in the house or from out-of-doors, 
the latter greatly to be preferred ; pieces of Soft Maple 
wood convenient for examination ; dry fruits of vari- 
ous Maples, as many varieties as ma}^ be obtainable ; 
pressed leaves of several species. The pupils must also 
have access to a grove of Soft Maple trees, native or 
planted, or to a row along the street. Other species of 
Maple, if in the vicinity, should be pointed out. 

1. A report by the pupils of what may be observed 
of the Soft Maple in early spring. Let each examine 
the trees, and present a written report of his observa- 
tions in reference to various particulars, as the follow- 
ing : — 

i. The tree; its height and diameter, its manner of 
growth related to its position and surround- 
ings. Most trees about our homes have suf- 
fered more or less from pruning ; what has 
resulted in the branching, for instance ? 

2. The bark, on stem, branches, twigs ; how cast off 

from year to year ? 

3. The wood, its character, weight, color, etc. 

1 See note at the close of this Lesson. 



THE SOFT MAPLE. 93 

4. The economic value of the tree ; for what pur- 
poses used ? Where found growing naturally ? 
If planted, for what purposes ? How far does 
it serve the purpose for which it is planted ? 
Advantages and disadvantages as a street tree. 

II. The Inflorescence. 

Examine the supernumerary buds, noted before, and 
see to what they have developed, either in the warm air 
of the room or out-of-doors. Note : — 

a. The abundant bloom-buds, their position on the 
twigs ; on the tree as a whole. Notice that the bloom 
for the present season was all perfected last year ; the 
warm airs of spring do no more than cause the buds to 
open. This was shown, though perhaps less strikingly, 
in the Lilac and the Cherry. Notice that in the present 
case the leaf -buds have not yet started. You will dis- 
cover later that the inflorescence is all out of the way or 
ever the leaves make any start at all. 

b. Examine a single bud. Note that the axis has 
lengthened a little, to set free the crowded structures 
which it bears ; the bud-scales, few in number, the 
outer deciduous. The flowers, how many ? How 
arranged ? 

c. The flower. Study the make-up of a single 
flower : the pedicel, long or short ; the calyx, its lobes 
or divisions ; the petals — ? ; the stamens, number, dif- 
ferent development in different flowers. What seems 
to be the condition of their perfect development ? Does 
the place of the flowers on the tree have anything to 
do with the matter ? In flowers where the stamens are 



94 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

most perfectly developed is there any trace of a pistil? 
Flowers which produce stamens only, or in which the 
pistil, if present, remains undeveloped are designated — 
how ? Find flowers in which the pistil has attained 
complete development. Are the stamens present in 
such flowers ? Do they undergo development ? 

Study the pistil ; its surface and style-arms under 
the lens. 

Make with a sharp knife a transverse section. Find 
two loculi. How many ovules in each ? Make a vertical 
section parallel to the plane of the style-arms. Notice 
the disk 1 on which the pistil rests, and from which the 
anthers spring. This disk is small, it is true, but is 
nevertheless interesting as distinguishing widely the 
whole series of plants, natural order, to which the 
Maple belongs. 

III. Pollination. 

How does the pollen pass from the anthers to the 
style-arms ? Are there any peculiarities in the stamens 
or in the pollen itself that favor transportation by the 
wind ? Are there in the style-arms any adaptations 
that render these organs specially fitted to the reception 
of wind-borne pollen ? Do bees or similar insects visit 
the blooming Maples ? 

IV. The Fruit. 

Note in dried specimens the two parts, the seed-case 
proper and the wing ; the first hairy, the second veined. 
What purpose is subserved by the wing ? 

Compare several seeds. Notice that while some are 

1 This disk is seen in perfection in the flowers of A. saccharinum. 



THE SOFT MAPLE. 95 

complete in themselves, others show plainly on. one side 
the surface by which they were at one time attached 
to something else — another f rnit ? Perhaps such twin 
fruit is to be seen in the collection. These double fruits 
correspond to the two loculi of the pistil ; and such a 
winged dry fruit in general is called a sama'ra (pi., ce). 
To see how the pistil with two loculi and several ovules 
passes into such a samara will require close watching 
during several weeks. 

V. The Leaves. 

These follow in this species the inflorescence. We 
may examine pressed specimens, comparing the venation 
and the marginal indentations. 

VI. Classification. 

If a Sugar or Hard Maple can be visited conven- 
iently, let the pupils compare it as to particulars speci- 
fied in I. 1, 2. Compare in class the leaves and fruits 
of the two Maples. ISTotice that both are Maples, have 
the same general type of fruit and leaf, and yet differ 
in the manner in which the idea of the fruit and leaf is 
expressed; for instance, in the matter of size, surface, 
texture, etc. These minor details mark different kinds, 
species, of Maple, Hard Maple and Soft Maple, we say. 
Popular opinion long ago distinguished these ; and when 
science recognizes in the two trees two species, it does 
but confirm popular judgment. The word species is 
Latin. What is its original significance ? 

For reasons good and sufficient the scientific names 
of plants are written in Latin form, and in two 
parts ; the first describing or designating the kind, 



96 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

genus, the second the species, or special form of the kind. 
The specific name expresses an adjective relation. 
In the present case Maple is the name of the genus ; 
Soft, the species ; bnt in Latin we write, — 

ACER DASYCARPUM EHRH. 

and for the Hard Maple, — 

ACER SACCHARIXUM WANG. 

After the specific name we write the initial or abbre- 
viation of the name of the man who first applied to the 
plant the scientific name it bears ; thus, Ehrh., Ehrhart 
L., Linnaeus; Mx., Michaux, etc. 

There are in the United States several other species 
of Acer. Thus in the eastern part of the country we 
have A. spicatum Lam., a small but handsome tree, ex- 
tending as far west as Iowa, and A. pennsylvanicum L. 
In the Mississippi Valley and eastward we have a tree, 
A. rubrum L., much resembling the species we have so 
carefully studied. In L T tah and the West we have still 
another shrubby Maple or two, while on the Pacific 
coast we have a large-leafed large tree, A. macrophyl- 
lum Pursh, like our Soft Maple again. The genus Acer, 
accordingly, in the United States includes eight species, 
which may be grouped as follows : — 

f f Flowers appearing with the leaves, 

A. saccharinum Wang. 



1. Large Trees. < 



a. Fruit smooth. 



b. Fruit rough. 



Flowers appearing before the leaves, 
A. rubrum L. 

Flowers later than the leaves, 

A. macrophyllum Pursh. 

Flowers before the leaves, 

A. dasy carpum Ehrh. 



2. Small trees, 
shrubs, one 
species even 
prostrate. 



THE SOFT MAPLE. 97 



Flowers in dense upright racemes. 
a. Flowers later I A. spicatum Lam. 



than leaves. 



Flowers in long drooping racemes, 

A. pennsylvanicum L. 



Leaves five- to seven-lobed, 
b. Flowers with I A. circinatum Pursh. 



rs with | 

V 



1 Leaves three- to five-lobed, 



A. glabrum Torr. 



A. dasycarpum Ehrh., ranges from New Brunswick 
to Kansas, from the Great Lakes to Northern Florida. 

The genus Acer is also represented in all parts of 
the Old World ; south of the equator, however, in Java 
only. 

Note. — In North American Silva, vol. ii. p. 97 and p. 103, 
the specific name A. barbatum Mx., is given for Hard Maple, 
and A. saccharinum L., for the Soft Maple. It is probable that 
under the " rules " some such nomenclature may at length be 
adopted. Since the changes have not yet, however, found place 
in our manuals, it has been thought best to retain the familiar 
designations, even at the risk of being esteemed too conservative. 



LESSON XXII. 
The Soft Maple. — Reviewed. 

ACER DASYCARPUM EHKH. 
Written Exercise. 



After working through the problem of so much of 
the structure and history of the Soft Maple as the pre- 
ceding lesson has brought to light, let the pupil, by 
way of review, write a somewhat full description of 



98 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

the Maple, a description containing his field-notes, and 
combining with these a discussion of facts brought oat 
in the class-room. Such topics as the following may 
be discussed : — 

I. The general character of the tree, its manner and 
rapidity of growth, as shown by the largest tree of the 
species to be found in the neighborhood. 

TI. The economic value of the tree. 

a. As furnishing wood, lumber. What is curly or 
" Bird's-eye" Maple ? 

b. As planted for a wind-break. Consider the case 
of the farmers of the Mississippi valley. 

c. As planted for shade, a street tree. Is it the 
most useful ? What is the effect of pruning ? Proper 
pruning ? 

III. The Inflorescence, its character and adaptation 
to wind-fertilization. Draw diagrams to illustrate the 
variety of flowers discovered, using as pattern the dia- 
gram on p. 76, Fig. 10. 1 

IV. The fruit, its adaptation to dispersal by the 
wind. Why should it be dispersed at all ? 2 What 
position does the samara tend to assume in falling ? 
Within a few weeks you may find the seeds germinat- 
ing in every direction ; does it seem that in planting 
the seeds of the Maple they should be covered deeply ? 

1 In the diagram by dotted lines connect the united parts as in 
this case, the sepals. Mark the place of absent organs by a X . 

2 See Lesson XIX. 



THE WILLOWS. 99 



LESSON XXIII. 
The Willows. 

SALIX sp; sp. 1 

Materials required: The pupils must have access to 
Willows of various species if possible. In addition, 
there will be needed for comparison, wood-sections of as 
many species as possible ; pressed specimens of leaves ; 
dry fruits ; twigs in various stages of inflorescence, 

I. The Trees or Shrubs. 

The pupils may prepare, as before, a report upon the 
various features of the Willows to be studied, as seen in 
the field, noting size ; mode of branching, branching as 
affected by trimming, polling, etc. ; the nature of the 
twigs ; the tough bark, the brittle wood. 

II. The Inflorescence ; " Pussy-willow Buds.' 7 

a. Its early appearance, in some species much ear- 
lier than in others. Does the growth begin before the 
frost is out of the ground ? 

b. The form of the inflorescence, the catkins. ISTote 
their position on the branches. In less advanced speci- 
mens, note the bud-scales which cover the catkins. How 
many are there ? Note the gradual beautiful unfolding 
of the spicate clusters. 

1 The determination of species in the genus Salix is a matter of 
so much difficulty, that it is not thought best to be particular here. 
Any species will answer. But see Section VI. following. 



100 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

c. The staminate catkins. Note the position of the 
flowers, their spirally whorled arrangement. 

The individual flower : its position ; its subtending 
bract, the margin and soft, silky pubescence ; the sta- 
mens, their number, position, structure ; the pollen, 
compare with the pollen of Trillium, Acer, as to quan- 
tity, dryness ; the third body at the base of the fila- 
ments, the nectar-gland. At the tip of the nectar-gland 
find with the lens a minute droplet of nectar. Has it 
taste ? Have the Willow flowers odor ? Draw a stam- 
inate flower projected against its bract, all enlarged, 
say four times. 

d. The pistillate catkin. 

Note, as before, the arrangement of the flowers. 

The individual flower : its pistil, its pedicel, surface j 
the style ; the stigmatic lobes, their number and color ; 
the nectar-gland. Draw the pistillate flower projected 
against its silky bract. 

Note the number of loculi ; in the mature fruit find 
the seeds. How are these distributed ? 

III. Fertilization. 

How is the pollen distributed ; borne from stamen 
to stigma ? What special adaptations leading to this 
end ? What is the purpose of the nectar-gland ? What 
makes the flowers conspicuous in this case ? Watch 
the blooming Willows on a sunny day, and note what 
is going on. 

IV. Habitat. 

In what localities do you find the Willows ? In 
what places do they flourish best ? How are they com- 



THE WILLOWS. 101 

m only planted ? Try thrusting Willow twigs in spring 
into the moist ground, in some place where they may 
remain undisturbed. What happens ? Do they grow 
if thrust in upside down. The Willow not only puts 
forth very readily branches on occasion, as when 
polled, from adventitious buds, but likewise puts out 
abundant roots, if circumstances favor, from any part 
of the stem. 

V. Economic Importance. 

For what are Willows useful in your neighborhood ? 
Is the wood of any value ? 

VI. Distribution. 

Willows are found in all parts of the Northern 
Hemisphere. There are perhaps one hundred and fifty 
species in all. While common everywhere by lakes 
and water-courses, they are yet by no means restricted 
to such localities. They sometimes affect arid regions, 
and make all altitudes their own. Salix herbacea L. is a 
tiny shrub. It clings to the rocks of the lofty Alps, is 
found on the summits of our own White Mountains, and 
extends its range far into the Arctic zone. 

Perhaps the most common species in the Eastern 
United States are the following, here grouped accord- 
ing to the time of inflorescence : — 

! Salix humilis Marsh. 
Salix tristis Ait. 
Salix discolor Muhl. 



Flowers with or after the leaves. 






Salix cordata Muhl 
Salix nigra Marsh. 
~\ Salix alba var. vitellixa L. 
Salix fragilis L. 






102 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

The first two species are found in dry places, 
hillsides, etc. ; the last two are not rare in cultivation. 
S. alba vitellina has yellow twigs in spring. 



LESSON XXIV 

The Aspens. 

POPULUS TREMULOIDES MX. 
POPULUS GRAXDIDENTATA MX. 
POPULUS MONILIFERA AITON. 
POPULUS ALBA LINN. 

Materials required : The pupils are to have access to 
any or all the species named, Quaking Asp, Aspen, Cot- 
tonwood, Silver-tree. Other materials, as heretofore, — 
pressed leaves, wood-sections, dry fruits, twigs of any 
or all the species in various phases of bloom. The trees 
generally bloom in the order of the list. The process, 
however, may in any case be hastened by keeping the 
twigs a few days in the warm air of the school-room. 

I. The Trees. 

Whatever the species, the tree is to be described, 
compared, or contrasted in all particulars with Salix. 
Note especially the nodulose branches, the leaf-scars, 
the bud-scale scars. On old trees of some species of 
Populus (P. monilifera) the bud-scale rings can be 
counted back six or eight years. Observe that the 
twigs, branchlets, are quite as deciduous sometimes 
as are the leaves. Many of the round, seal-like scars 
result from the abscission not of leaves, but of twigs, 



THE ASPENS. 103 

You may find branclilets ready for such separation, and 
note the ease with which they are detached. How may 
you in any case distinguish twig-scars from leaf-scars ? 
In vigorous young trees of P. monilifera the twigs are 
sometimes "winged;" i.e., bear ridges of corky bark 
running lengthwise. Compare the bark of any Populus 
with that of Salix. Both contain a very bitter alkaloid, 
salicin. Taste the inner bark of any species. 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. Appears before the leaves in all the native 
species. 

b. The general form of the inflorescence to be studied 
as before. Note the bud-scales which cover the catkins ; 
their number, shape, surface, viscid in some species (P. 
monilifera). The peculiar resin which varnishes some- 
times leaf-buds as well as flower-buds has a pleasant 
balsamic odor, which suggested for P. balsamifera its 
popular designation, " Balm of Gilead " tree. Of what 
service may this resin be to the tree ? 

c. The staminate catkin. 

Compare in all particulars with the correspondent 
structures in Salix species. Note especially the num- 
ber of stamens, the light, dry pollen, and the absence 
of nectar-glands. Sketch the staminate flower, as seen 
in vertical radial section, to show the relative position 
of bract and stamens. Draw a single bract as seen 
from without. 

d. The pistillate catkin. 

Note the exposure of the stigmas by the slowly ex- 



104 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

paneling anient, so that the Avhole, with its flexible axis, 
is like a single flower. 

Tor the individual flower, find the subtending bract, 
early deciduous ; note its laciniate margin. Observe 
the disk or receptacle which here half encloses the base 
of the ovary, simulates a calyx ; the lobate stigma. 
Draw the pistillate flower. 

III. Fertilization. 

How effected in Populus ? Note the differences in 
adaptation as compared with Salix species. Note the 
differences in adaptation in trees or plants, all of which, 
nevertheless, appeal to one and the same agency. Thus,, 
compare Populus, Ace) 1 , Ulmus. 

IV. Classification. 

In what respects do Populus and Salix differ ? In 
what particulars agree ? 

At least three native species of Populus are common 
in the United States east of the Missouri River, and 
these three are easily distinguished. Thus : — 



1. Bud-scales resinous ; stigma-lobes broad ; bracts glabrous; 
bark rough, — P. mon ilifera Aitost. 

2. Bud-scales not viscid; stigma-lobes linear; bracts silky; 
bark smoothish, — 

a. Bud-scales smooth, shiny; bracts long, silky; bark whitish; 

leaves finely crenate-dentate ; tree less symmetrical, — 

P. tremuloides Mx. 

b. Bud-scales and bracts short, silky; bark greenish, or on 

older trunks greenish-brown or yellowish ; trees larger; 
leaves coarsely crenate-dentate, — 

P. grandidentata Mx. 



THE AMERICAN ELM. 105 

V. Habitat. 

Note the conditions under which your particular 
species grows, its surroundings, etc. 

VI. Economic Importance. 

For what purpose is the wood of this species used ? 
of other species ? For what purposes are species of 
Populus planted ? Notice that the variety of lumber 
known as poplar does not come from any species of 
Populus. Poplar lumber is made from Liriodendron 
tulipifera, a southern tree sometimes called poplar, but 
better designated as the Tulip-tree. 



LESSON XXV. 

The American Elm. 

ULMUS AMERICANA LINN. 

Materials required : The pupils shall have free ac- 
cess to trees of the species. Besides this are required 
a sufficient number of blooming twigs, pressed leaves 
from the year preceding, several good wood-sections, 
showing both transverse and vertical faces; dry fruit 
in abundance. 

I. Field Report. 

1. The Tree. 

Let the pupils present written reports of what 
they have been able to observe concerning the tree as 
it stands, — its habits of growth ; mode of branching ; 



106 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

shape as determined by surroundings ; height ; diameter ; 
whatever can be ascertained as to age. 

2. The Bark. 

Compare the bark on the main stem* ; the branches ; 
twigs ; how cast off from the main stem ? Exactly as 
in the Soft Maple ? Find twigs of successive years' 
development, — one year old ; two ; three. About how 
much does the tree add to its height year by year ? 

3. The Wood. 

Note its character ; weight, color, strength, rapidity 
of growth. What is the average annual increase in 
diameter ? In which years is this increase greater, 
earlier or later ? 

4. The Economic Value of the Tree. 

If found growing naturally, for what purpose is the 
timber used ? If planted, for what purpose ? What 
of the value of the Elm as a street tree ? Has the 
Elm any advantages here ? 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. On a twig breaking into bloom, find two sorts of 
buds, bloom-buds and leaf -buds. Which develop first ? 
Note the direction assumed by the flower-bud as it un- 
folds. 

b. A single bud. Notice the bud-scales; their ar- 
rangement. Compare the arrangement of the scales 
with that of the buds, remembering how bud-scales 
stand related to leaves, and these, in position, to buds. 
Sketch a half-open bud to show the arrangement of the 
scales. 



THE AMERICAN ELM. 107 

In each of the scales (inner) find two parts; that 
developed last year ; its color ; the growing part below. 
Pnsh back the lightly adherent (deciduous) scales, and 
expose : — 

c. The flower-clusters. Where are these produced ? 
Note the minute brown bractlets. Some of these 
doubtless represent the stipules, which belong to the 
bud-scales (leaves). Note the scars left where the bud- 
scales break off. 

d. A single flower. Note the pedicel, its length, 
the joint or node near the middle; the calyx, its color, 
form, lobes. Sketch a flower as it appears under the 
Coddington, to show pedicel and calyx. 

The androecium. Note the number of the stamens 
and their attachment ; the filaments ; anther-lobes. Find 
out, if possible, how the pollen is discharged, and note 
its character. 

Do you find stamens and pistils in the same flower ? 
Study the pistil, noting its form, color ; the bifid 
stigma; the beautiful white crest of cilia which sur- 
mounts the style-arms. Draw the pistil as seen from 
the side. 

Make a cross-section of the ovary ; how many loculi 
are there ? How many ovules ? Compare the mature 
fruit, noting the changes that have occurred in passing 
from flower to fruit. Draw a samara. 

e. Pollination. By what agency is the pollen de- 
posited on the style-arms ? Are there any special 
adaptations to pollination by the agency of the wind — 
in the anthers ? the pollen ? the style-arms ? In the 



108 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

time of inflorescence ? Compare in all these particu- 
lars what has been learned about the Maple. 

/. The fruit. 

Note the date of blooming of the Elm flowers, and 
watch for the formation of the mature fruit. This will 
presently come drifting abundantly to the ground, when 
pupils may note whether or not the tree has as yet put 
forth its leaves. 

g. The foliage. 

This may be studied later, when the tree is in full 
leaf, or pressed leaves may be made the subject of criti- 
cal examination. Note especially the form and venation 
of the leaf as indicated. Study the obliquity of the leaf- 
base as related to the position and direction the leaf 
assumes upon the twig. Are there stipules ? Draw a 
single leaf, natural size. 

A. Distribution. 

Is the American Elm a common tree ? It is purely 
an American tree, and has a wide range extending from 
Newfoundland to the Black Hills of South Dakota, and 
south to Florida and Texas. 



LESSON XXVI. 
The Slippery Elm. 
ULMUS FULVA MX. 

Materials required: Leaves, fruit, wood-sections of 
Slippery Elm. Flowering twigs in various stages of 
development. Slippery Elm bark from the druggist. 



THE SLIPPERY ELM. 109 

Let the pupils compare in all accessible particulars 
with U. americana. If a Slippery Elm can be visited, 
of course, so much the better. 

1. Compare the two trees in habit ; mode of branch- 
ing ; bark ; wood ; flower-buds, their development, scales. 

2. Let the pupil make out a list of particulars in 
which the species agree ; in which they differ. Note 
that the differences are mainly superficial, difference in 
detail ; in general plan of flowers and fruit and leaves 
the trees are alike. If one is an Elm, so is the other. 
They are simply different species of Elm. Notice that 
science here again simply confirms popular judgment, 
gives more exact definition to forms which all men per- 
ceive. " Science is applied common-sense." 

3. Geographical Distribution. 

TJlmus fulva is not uncommon in the Mississippi 
Valley, but is by no means so familiar a tree as is 
U. americana. It ranges almost over the entire wooded 
region of eastern North America, from Maine to Da- 
kota, south, to northern Florida and Texas. 

4. Economic Value. 

For what purposes is the wood of the Slippery Elm 
used ? For what is the bark esteemed valuable ? 



110 ELEMENTABY BOTANY. 



LESSON XXVII. 

The Elm Family and the Order of which it forms a Part. 

Materials required : Herbarium specimens and pressed 
leaves of : — 

TJlmus americana L. White Elm, 

Ulmus fulva M'x. Slippery Elm. 

TJlmus racemosa Thomas. Rock Elm. 

Ulmus alata Mx. Winged Elm. 

Celtis occidentalis L. Hackberry. 

Cannabis sativa L. Hemp. 

Humulus lupulus L. Hop-vine. 

Madura aurantiaca Nutt. Osage-orange. 

Urtica dioica L., or 
Laportea canadensis. 

Tilea pumila Gray. Rich weed. 

Dry fruit of all these species so far as obtainable. 

Wood-sections of all the arboreous species, to show 
bark, wood, etc. 

We have already studied two species of Elm, — 
U. americana and U. fulva. On comparing the leaves 
and fruits of these two with the other leaves and fruits 
before us, we can readily see that in our whole list we 
have nothing else very much like the Elms. The Celtis 
in foliage is perhaps nearest. Compare, however, es- 
pecially the venation. Compare also the wood of the 
Hackberry, and the bark with the same structures in 
the Elms. 



Stinging Nettle. 



THE ELM FAMILY. Ill 

In Kentucky, and farther south, however, we find a 
tree whose leaves, though small, are almost exactly like 
those of the Elm. The fruit, too, is a simple akene like 
the central part of the Elm fruit, the wing omitted. 
This Southern tree is called Planer' s-tree, Planera 
aquatica Gmelin. This tree, with the Elms in our list, 
all of which extend as far west as Iowa, make up the 
Elm Family, the Ulmece. 

Now take up the fruit, wood, and leaves of Celtis. 
In all our series we shall find nothing just like Celtis. 
The fruit is, however, like the other fruits ; it is a one- 
seeded nutlet or akene. Wherein does it differ from 
the fruits of species of Ulmus ? Is this an essential 
difference ? Can you see that in both trees, the Elm 
and the Hackberry, the outside of the fruit, its covering 
merely, is modified to the accomplishment of the same 
general purpose ? Compare carefully the wood and 
bark of Celtis with other wood-sections. The differ- 
ences you have discovered are deemed sufficient to sep- 
arate Celtis not only from any one of the Elms, for 
instance, but from all of them ; and so we put Celtis in a 
family by itself, — the Hackberry Family, Celtidece. 

By similar comparisons we group the Hemp and the 
Hop into the Family Cannabinece ; the Kettle and Eich- 
weed into the Family TJrticece ; while the Osage-orange, 
with its milky juice, shining leaves, and aggregated 
fruits, stands off by itself — rather, joins hands with 
the Mulberry, Moms rubra, common in some parts of 
the country — to make still another group or family, the 
Movece. 

We may now better appreciate all this if we arrange 



112 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

our knowledge in definite order. Write the families 
one after the other by name. After each family name 
place in order the names of the genera making up the 
family as here represented, and after each genus enter 
the species composing it. You will thus have a table 
something like that on pages 96 and 97. 

To the families already named we may add yet a 
fifth, some of the members of which we know by name 
at least, — the Family Artocarpece, which includes not 
only the Breadfruit-tree, Artocarpus incisa, but all the 
Fig-trees as well, and many of the India-rubber trees. 
The dry fig with which we are familiar does not much 
remind us of the fruits now before us, but we must note 
that here also each single seed represents a single 
flower ; the fleshy part of the fig is the enlarged recepta- 
cle. Add, therefore, the Family Artocarpece to your list. 

Now, all these families agree in certain general par- 
ticulars : thus, they ail have stipulate leaves ; they have 
a regular calyx, free from the ovary, with stamens as 
many as the lobes of the calyx, and opposite these ; in all 
the fruit is one-seeded (a single seed), differing only in 
the various modifications for insuring dispersal. All 
these families are accordingly grouped together to form 
the natural 

Order URTICACE/E; 

named, strange as it may seem, from one of its most 
insignificant members, Urtica, the Nettle. 

So the Elm belongs to the Nettle order, and the 
Hackberry, the Hemp plant, and the Hop-vine, the Mul- 
berry and the Fig, to say nothing of the scores of less 



THE BOX ELDER. 113 

significant plants represented by the Richweeds and Net- 
tles. What a motley array ! One would think at first 
sight that the association of forms so diverse would be 
irrational, the very reverse of system or classification ; 
and yet we plainly see that all these various plants have 
flowers alike, in all the fruit is just the same, what- 
ever its disguise. Here, as elsewhere, the old law holds 
good, " Ye shall know them by their fruits." Our plants 
differ chiefly in what we may term habit. Some take a 
longer, some a shorter, time in which to bring forth fruit ; 
some are therefore annual, some perennial. Some stand 
erect ; others find access to better air and sunlight by 
climbing upon stems of neighboring plants. Some pro- 
duce fruit to be scattered by the passing winds ; others 
recognize the existence of hungry animals in the world, 
and furnish fruit which these will bear about and scatter. 



LESSON XXVIII 

The Box Elder. 
NEGUNDO ACEROIDES MOENCH. i 

Materials required: Flowering twigs of the Box 
Elder ; flowering twigs also of the Hard Maple, if obtain- 

1 Linnaeus called the Box Elder, a Maple, and named it Acer 
negundo. Later its generic distinction was recognized by Moench, 
and the name changed to Negundo aceroides Moench. In Garden 
and Forest, iv. 166, Mr. Sudworth gives reasons for retaining Moench's 
generic name, but returns to the specific name first applied by Lin- 
naeus, and calls the tree Negundo negundo (L.) Sudw. 



114 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

able, for comparison. The pupils are, as usual, expected, 
if not to procure the requisite material, at least to visit 
and study the trees. Dry fruit is also desirable for com- 
parison ; wood-sections, herbarium specimens of foliage, 
etc., as heretofore. 

I. Let the pupil compare the Box Elder with any 
species of Maple in the particulars following : — 

1. In general appearance ; mode of growth ; branch- 
ing ; color of twigs ; buds, their smoothness or pubes- 
cence ; the bark on the main stem. Can the Box Elder 
be recognized at sight at any season of the year ? 

2. In Inflorescence. 

In Negundo note the time of appearance of flow- 
ers as compared with foliage. Compare especially with 
A. dasycarpum and A. saccharinum. Note the style of the 
inflorescence in the Box Elder, its origin and type. The 
staminate flowers of Box Elder and of Hard Maple agree 
in what particulars ? How about the pistillate flowers 
in the same plants ? Note especially the arrangement 
of the flowers in Negundo. In the same flowers observe 
the incipient wings. The pistillate raceme terminates a 
shoot ; the staminate flowers do not terminate the branch- 
lets on which they rise. Compare twigs on which last 
year's fruit may still be hanging, and observe the effect 
of fruit-bearing on the branchlet. 

In the flowers of A. saccharinum, note the disk to 
which reference has already been made (Lesson XXL, 
p. 94). Sketch a single fertile flower of Negundo to 
show the wings, and a flower of Acer saccharinum, if 



THE BOX ELDER. 115 

obtainable, to show the disk. Each may be shown 
magnified four or five times. 

o. In adaptations for pollen-dispersal, compare es- 
pecially Box Elder and Hard Maple. 

4. In Foliage. 

Are the leaves in the Box Elder and the Maple of 
the same general type ? Can yon think of a Box Elder 
leaf as in any way correspondent to a Maple leaf part 
for part ? 

5. In Economic Importance. 

What is the chief economic importance of Negundo 
aceroides in the part of the country where you are study- 
ing it ? Do you know whether it is a tree of greater 
value in other sections ? What trees make habitable 
the prairies of the western Mississippi valley ? 

II. Distribution. 

The Box Elder has a remarkable distribution. It is 
one of the most widely distributed trees of North Amer- 
ica. It extends from Vermont to California, and ranges 
from Winnipeg to Florida, Texas, and New Mexico. 
The centre of distribution where the tree attains great- 
est diameter and height is the eastern Mississippi valley. 
Towards the West the tree varies by having the bud- 
scales, and to less extent the leaves and fruit, more and 
more pubescent, until in California the winter-buds are 
fairly tomentose. Nevertheless, all the Box Elders of 
North America are included in one species, since be- 
tween the smoothest forms of the East, and the most to- 
mentose of the West, every intervening gradation may 
be shown. There is, therefore, only one species of JSfe- 



116 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

gundo in the New World, and, strange to sav, only one 
other species in the whole world ; this is in Japan ! 

Genus Xegundo ( *> oroides Mcench. 
(. N.japonicum. 



LESSON XXIX. 

The Bur Oak. 

QUERCUS MACROCARPA MX. 

Materials required : Herbarium specimens of leaves ; 
acorns with their cups ; flowering twigs ; wood-sections. 
The pupils, as usual, to have access to trees of the spe- 
cies studied ; the fruit of other species of Oak, as large 
a series as possible. Hazelnuts, Beechnuts, Chestnuts, 
• Iron wood fruits, all with the husk, or involucre, are in- 
dispensable for comparison. Wood-sections of other 
species are also most desirable for the same purpose. 

I. The Tree. 

a. Let the pupil present a written description of 
the tree, with statement of all his observations in regard 
to it. 

b. Study the wood-sections. ISTote the heartwood ; 
the white wood. Compare the hardness, strength, and 
grain of this wood with that of the Maple, for example. 
What is known of the uses to which Bur Oak wood is 
applied ? 

II. The Foliage. 

Describe the leaves ; notice their peculiar outline, 



THE BUR OAK. 117 

venation, surface above, below. Sketch a leaf to show 
outline and venation. The venation of the oak leaf is 
very characteristic. Notice the stipules, very deciduous. 

III. The Inflorescence. 

a. Note the time of its appearance as regards the 
appearance of the leaves: diclinous ; i.e., pistils and 
stamens are in different flowers ; monoecious, on the 
same tree, though separate. 

b. The staminate flowers. Note the form of the 
cluster, an anient ; note the point from which the stami- 
nate cluster springs. 

Notice the individual flower, its attachment, its en- 
velopes, stamens ; their number. 

c. The pistillate flower, its position, structure, stig- 
mas, style, ovary. Is there any trace of calyx ? Make 
a smooth section of the pistillate flower, and note the 
number of cells in the ovary, and of ovules in each cell. 
Notice the numerous bractlets making up the involucre. 
Draw the section enlarged about six or eight times. A 
similar section of a pistillate flower should be examined 
three or four weeks later. 

IV. The Fruit. 

a. Take the dry acorns; note the "cup," involucre, 
made up of an indefinite number of bracts whose free 
tips give to the organ its bur-like character. Measure 
the extreme diameter of the largest bur you can find. 

b. The acorn. Note its form, surface, color, apex, 
base. Sketch the acorn in its cup. 

c. The embryo. With a penknife remove the cover- 



118 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

ing of the acorn, the ripened wall of the ovary. How 
many ovules do you find ? Where are the others ? 
Perhaps near the base of the embryo you may find 
rudiments representing undeveloped ovules. Of the 
embryo, note the large, thick cotyledons, adhering at 
one point only. Make a vertical longitudinal section 
at right angles to the plane surface of the cotyledon. 
At the point where the cotyledons are joined, find the 
plumule. Only the radicle perhaps can be made out 
until after the seed has begun to grow. 

d. Germination. 

The manner in which the acorn germinates is most 
interesting. By searching under the blooming trees 
plenty of sprouting acorns can usually be found. Study 
these if possible, and sketch some of the more striking 
phases, illustrating the manner in which the plumule 
reaches the light of day. Compare the germination 
with that of the Bean. (Lesson VII., iv.) 

V. Any other oak can be studied instead of the Bur 
Oak. Whatever be the species available, with it com- 
pare other species, using as a basis of comparison 
acorns and leaves. With a little practice many species 
can be distinguished by their acorns only. 

VI. Classification. 

a. Compare with the fruit of the Oak that of the 
Chestnut, the Beech, the Hazel. Note the variety in 
the character of the involucre. With the fruit of the 
Hazel compare the nutlets of Carpinus (Water Beech) 
and Ostrya (Ironwood), if these can be obtained. 

b. If possible, compare the same plants in flower. 



THE BUM OAK. 119 

c. By such comparison we gain the idea of relation- 
ship as in no other way. The plants referred to make 
up the 

Order CUPULIFER/E, 

the cup-bearers ; and the oak, with its acorn, a nut borne 
in a cup-shaped involucre, is the type. In all cases this 
single nut comes from a compound ovary ; i.e., from an 
ovary having several cells, and several ovules in each 
cell. All but one cell and one ovule are abortive, come 
to nothing. 1 In all cases the flowers are monoecious, and 
the leaves alternate, stipulate, and straight-veined. 

d. The Oaks likely to be met with in the Eastern 
United States are : — 

J 1. Que reus macrocarpa Mx Bur Oak. 

( 2. Quercus alba L. White Oak. 

3. Quercus muhlenbergii Engelm. Yellow Oak. 

( 4. Quercus rubra L. Red Oak. 

(. 5. Quercus cocclnea Wang. Scarlet Oak. 

6. Quercus imbricarla Mx. Laurel Oak. 

The first two are White Oaks ; the lobes of the 
leaves rounded, never bristle-tipped. 

The third has leaves almost like those of the Chest- 
nut, — undivided, but sharply toothed. 

The fourth and fifth are Black Oaks. The lobes of 
the leaves are bristle-pointed, and the acorns take two 
years to mature. Q. imbricarla Mx. has entire leaves 
and a globose acorn. 

1 Did any one ever find a " double " hazelnut ? What does that 
mean ? 



120 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

e. A week or two after the blooming of the Oaks, 
the Hickories and Walnuts are available for study. To 
the Oaks they are closely related ; and it will be inter- 
esting even at this point to compare their fruits, to 
trace so far the relationship. 

VII. Economic Value. 

a. Take the order Cupuliferce throughout, and what 
do you say as to its economic importance ? Let pupils 
write out a list of purposes for which oak-timber is 
used; for which it is best. What is the duty of our 
people in reference to the forests of Oak and Hickory 
and Walnut that still form so large a part of the nat- 
ural wealth of our country ? Is it wise to exterminate 
the forest ? 

b. Write a list of all the forest trees with which you 
are acquainted, and pick out the six that are of greatest 
value for lumber. 



LESSON XXX. 

The Shepherd's-purse. 

CAP SELLA B UBS A-P AS TOPIS MOENCH. 

Materials required : Fresh plants from the garden 
or field. The plant is a most common weed. Speci- 
mens may be brought in entire; the roots, carefully 
lifted and thoroughly washed, must be kept moist until 
studied. 

I. The Plant ; General Description. 

Note its wholly herbaceous character ; almost every 



THE SHEPHERD' S-PURSE. 121 

part above ground is green, and to that extent plays the 
part of foliage. Notice the quickness with which the 
plant in spring reaches perfection and fruit. Compare 
in this respect with plants already studied; Trillium, 
for instance. 

a. Note the central axis : ascending, the green 
stem ; descending, the white root. Each bears abun- 
dant branches. Wherein, however, does the stem differ 
from the root ? 

b. Take a plant that has been taken from the 
ground so carefully that its roots, even the small- 
est, are yet unbroken ; float the roots out carefully in 
water in a glass dish over some dark surface, and ex- 
amine. 

Note the irregular, systemless branching, the uncer- 
tain origin of the rootlets; they seem to spring as 
occasion offers or requires from any place on the root- 
axis. Observe the great length of some of the slender 
rootlets, their swollen tips, near the tips minute root- 
hairs like soft white cotton fibres. These root-hairs, 
though seemingly insignificant, are really for the plant 
most important organs ; they absorb from the soil much 
of the inorganic stuff which the plant uses continually 
for the development of its tissues. 

With sharp knife or razor cut the root-axis squarely 
off, and note its structure under your lens : the hard 
woody central cylinder ; the softer spongy cortex, easily 
stripped off; the indistinct epidermis ; the woody cylin- 
der of each secondary root continuous with that of the 
central axis. 



122 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

c. The Stem. 

Notice its surface characters, longitudinal markings ; 
its branches, of two sorts, — those bearing flowers, pedi- 
cels, leafless ; those which bear foliage, and repeat in all 
particulars the characters of the central stem. Where 
do the leafy branches take their rise ? The pedicels ? 
The fact that the pedicels here are without subtending 
bracts or leaves is reckoned surprising, and is a peculi- 
arity of Capsella and its relatives. 

Make a smooth cross-section of the stem, and with 
the Coddington make out the exogenous structure, pith, 
woody cylinder, epidermis. 

Make a vertical section in the same way through a 
branch-bearing node ; note that the structures of branch 
and stem are correspondent. Draw a diagram to illus- 
trate this fact. 

d. The Leaf. 

Study the leaves of the Capsella in the various par- 
ticulars already enumerated in Lessons XI.-XV. Note 
the differences between the radical leaves and those 
borne at the nodes of the ascending axis. Try to de- 
termine the spiral arrangement of the stem-leaves and 
the fraction which expresses their angular divergence. 

Note the more or less abundant plant-hairs, trichomes, 
to be found on the leaves and various parts of the plant : 
(1) simple, these more common about the flowers and 
upper parts of the plant ; (2) stellately branching, abun- 
dant at the leaf-bases, etc. Sketch a few as they appear 
under the lens. Sketch what you esteem a typical leaf, 
showing the venation on one side at least, and the rela- 
tion of the veins to the marginal indentations and teeth. 



THE SHEPHERD' S-PURSE. 123 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. Note the type of the inflorescence ; the flowers 
open in order from without, below, upward, toward the 
centre, forming a corymbose, later a racemose, cluster. 
(See Lesson XVI.) Find flowers and fruit, therefore, 
of all ages on the same developing axis. 

b. The individual flower. 

Identify the successive sets of organs, and note the 
number of each. Write a brief description of the flower 
as outlined on p. 87. Notice that while the sepals are 
four, the petals four, the stamens are six, and the car- 
pels but two. Notice also that the stamens are in two 
sets, of two sizes, two pairs long, and a pair of single 
shorter ones. How are the stamens placed with refer- 
ence to each other and to the glands alternating with 
the stamen filaments ? How many such glands do you 
find in one flower ? Their function is not apparent. 

III. Fertilization. 

Are these little flowers fertilized each by its own 
pollen ? Compare the height of the long stamens with 
that of the pistil. Can pollen from the shorter stamens 
reach the stigma without extraneous assistance ? Has 
any one observed insects visiting the flowers ? Muller 
found that flowers reared under cover in such way that 
insects had no access to them were yet perfectly 
fertile. 1 

IV. The Fruit. 

a. Pluck off the floral envelopes carefully, and on 
the receptacle with the lens find the minute green pistil. 
1 See Miiller's " Fertilization of Flowers," p. 100. 



124 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Notice the median ridge down each flat face of the 
latter. Notice the form of the young pistil, and com- 
pare with the form of the same organ at the time when 
the petals are most fully expanded ; when all the floral 
organs except the pistil have fallen. 

b. Sketch each extreme phase of the pistil, enlarged 
sufficiently to show details. 

c. We remember that a flower is a modification of a 
branch with its appendages, the floral organs standing 
in the place of leaves. In the flower before us, there- 
fore, the fore-shortened branch bears the representatives 
of sixteen leaves. 

We may perhaps best understand the case by consid- 
ering that the floral organs are arranged in whorls of 
two. 1 

d. Make a smooth cross-section of the fruit, and 
with the lens find the transverse partition separating 
the carpels. If the fruit-pod be ripe enough, the two 
carpels, valves, may be pulled apart, leaving the brown 
seeds attached to the persisting partition. 

e. Make now r a diagram of the flower (See Fig. 10, 
p. 76) to show the relative position of the various floral 
organs at the time when the petals are fully expanded. 

V. Classification. 

The relatives of Capsella are numerous and com- 
mon. Here belong : — 

The Radish, Eaphanus sativus Linn. 

The Horseradish, Nasturtium armoracia Fries. 

1 See Gray's " Structural Botany," p. 206. 



BUTTERCUPS AND WINDFLOWEHS. 125 

The Peppergrass, Lepidium virginicum Linn. 

The Watercress, NaMuHium officinale R. Br. 

The Turnip, Brassica rapa Linn. 

The Cabbage, Brassica oleracea Linn. 

Proceed to comparison among these as soon as 
opportunity offers. It will be soon discovered that all 
agree in many special particulars. For instance, all are 
herbaceous plants, and all have that pungent sap which 
we recognize in its sharpness in Horseradish. All 
have four-parted flowers, almost exactly in. every case 
like those of Capsella, differing chiefly in size or color. 
All have the same pod-like fruit, although showing 
great variety in form. Plants having these general 
characters as constant features make up the Natural 

Order CRUCIFER/E. 

All the plants mentioned, and many more like them, 
are Crucifers. What is the etymology and primary sig- 
nificance of that name ? Is it here happily applied ? 



LESSON XXXI. 
Buttercups and Windflowers. 

Materials required : Specimens of the Creeping But- 
tercup [Ranunculus repens L.) x in flower and fruit. 
Similar specimens of the Windflower, Wood-anemone, 

1 B. septentrionalis Poir., or B. fasciadaris Muhl., will answer 
quite as well. 



126 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Rue-anemone, Liver-leaf, Larkspur, Columbine, Marsh- 
marigold, Isopyrum, Baneberry, etc. 

A. The Creeping Buttercup. 

Study the Creeping Buttercup. Notice : — 

I. The Plant. 

What can you say of its general appearance, habit of 
growth, and duration ? Observe : — 

a. The root. 

The number and mode of division or branching of 
the roots. Are they primary or secondary ? Do they 
proceed from an underground stem ? What is their 
texture ? 

In a rather old plant examine the centre of the clus- 
ter of roots. Do you find any which seem to be dead, 
nothing but the empty outer coat remaining? What is 
the significance of this ? 

b. The stem. 

Notice the texture of the stem, and its structure as 
shown in cross-section. Describe its form, branching, 
surface, etc. Compare the stems of the earlier plants 
with those of older ones. What differences do you 
observe ? 

c. The leaf. 

Notice the general structure of the leaf. Are all the 
parts of a typical leaf present ? Note its venation, 
division, form, margin, etc. Notice that some of the 
leaves proceed from the root, are radical leaves, while 
others are cauline. 



BUTTERCUPS AND WINDFLOWER&. 127 

Compare the two kinds of leaves. 
II. The Inflorescence. 
Examine the flower-cluster. 

a. Notice the distribution of the flowers on the stem. 
What is the order of inflorescence ? Are the flowers 
solitary or clustered ? 

b. Examine a single flower. Is it perfect? Com- 
plete ? Symmetrical ? Regular ? Examine the parts 
of the flower in detail : 

1. The calyx. Note the number, form, length, sur- 
face, color, and other characters of the sepals. Are 
these characters constant in all the flowers ? Is the 
position of the sepals the same in flowers of all ages ? 

2. The corolla. Describe the petals similarly. How 
are they placed with reference to the sepals ? How do 
they compare with the sepals in form and size ? What 
is their insertion ? 

Examine a single petal. Note the little scale at its 
base. Carefully examine this. Note that it covers a 
small pit, or pocket, — the honey-gland. Examine its 
contents, tasting them if possible. Draw, to show this 
scale, a single petal. 

3. The androecium. Note the number of stamens ; 
their insertion ; their length and position with reference 
to the remaining parts of the flower. Describe a single 
stamen, noting the length, color, and surface of the fila- 
ment, and the size, color, number of cells, and dehiscence 
of the anther ; also the color and abundance of the pol- 
len. 



128 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

4. The gyncecium. 

i. Note the number of pistils. Is each one sim- 
ple or compound ? Describe the parts fully, 
noting the placentation, number of cells and 
ovules in the ovary, and the form, color, sur- 
face, etc., of all the parts. 
ii. Examine the fruit. What kind of fruit is it ? 
Do the pistils of the flower unite to form an 
aggregated fruit ? How many cells and seeds 
are there ? Is the fruit dehiscent ? Describe 
the seeds, stating number, form, color, sur- 
face, etc. 

III. Pollination. 

Observe the relative position of the anthers and stig- 
mas in a fully opened flower. Is self-fertilization possi- 
ble ? What does the bright-colored corolla, with honey- 
glands at base of petals? indicate ? Are the flowers 
odorous ? What is the character of the pollen ? Is it 
dry and powdery, or sticky ? If possible, examine flow- 
ers in the field, and observe if they are visited by insects. 
If so, describe in detail the manner in which the insect 
alights on the flower, and its behavior while there. 

TV. General Observations. 

What is the habitat of this species ? When does it 
begin to flower ? and Iioav long does it continue ? How 
soon after flowering does the fruit mature ? 

B. Belated Species. 
I. Compare the other species mentioned in the list, 
with special reference to the following characters : - — 



BUTTERCUPS AND WINDFLOWERS. 129 

a. The plant, — its duration. 

b. The stem, — its structure and its juice. 

c. The leaves, — their division, venation, and presence 
or absence of parts. 

d. Individual flowers, — their numerical plan and 
general structure ; the presence or absence of parts ; the 
number of stamens or pistils. 

e. The fruits, — kinds, and number of cells and 
seeds in each. 

II. Classification. 

a. Notice that all the species resemble each other in 
the following characters : All (or nearly all) are herbs 
with colorless juice. The flowers in all are polypetal- 
ous or apetalous, when apetalous the calyx being corolla- 
like ; their parts all hypogynous ; the stamens and pis- 
tils mostly numerous and distinct. The fruits are all 
one-celled, and mostly one or few seeded, being akenes, 
follicles, or berries. The leaves are usually more 
or less cut, without stipules, and mostly alternate or 
radical. 

All plants possessing these characters belong to the 

Order RANUNCULACE/E. 

The Crowfoot Family. 

b. Observe the differences between the several plants. 
Notice that the Virgin' s-bower (Clematis) differs 

from all the other plants in having all leaves opposite, 
and from most of the series by the tailed achenia (i.e., 
with feathery styles persisting in fruit), and four sepals 



130 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

and no petals. This plant belongs to the Tribe Clema- 
tide^ thus set off from its relatives. 

The remaining forms may be grouped according 
to the fruit into two additional tribes, 1 those with 
achenia like the Buttercups (Ranunculus), Windflower 
(Anemone), Liver-leaf (Hej^atica), Rue-anemone (Anem- 
onella), Meadow-rue (Tlialictvum), forming the Tribe 
Anemones ; and those in which the fruit is a follicle, 
or berry, forming the Tribe Hellebores. Those hav- 
ing follicles are Marsh-marigold (Caltha), Isopyrum, 
Columbine (Aquilegia), Larkspur (Delphinium), and 
Peony (Pceonia) ; while the Baneberry (Actcea) pro- 
duces berries. 

Each of these tribes is again subdivided into groups, 
or genera, differing from each other mostly in the char- 
acter of the leaves, number of parts of the flower, and 
inflorescence. 

The following key will assist in recognizing the 
genera : — 

A. Fruits Achenia. 

Tribe I. Clematide^e. — Leaves all opposite. Achenia 
many, tailed. 

Genus 1. Clematis. — Mostly climbing by petioles. 
Tribe II. Anemones. — Herbs, not climbing. Leaves 
mostly alternate. 
a. Petals none. 

Genus 2. Anemone. — Involucre of leaves remote from 
flower; pistils very many; peduncles one- 
flowered. 

1 A greater number of tribes is usually recognized, but for prac- 
tical purposes the subdivisions here recognized will be sufficient. 



BUTTERCUPS AND 1V1XDFL0WERS. 131 

Genus 3. Hepatica. — Involucre close to flower, calyx- 
like; peduncles one-flowered. 

Genus 4. Anemonella. — Peduncles umbellate, one-flow- 
ered; achenia several, ribbed. 

Genus 5. Thalictrum. — Flowers panicled, often dioe- 
cious; achenia few. 

b. Petals and sepals both present. 

Genus 6. Ranunculus. — Petals five, yellow or white, 
each with a honey-gland. 

B. Fruits Follicles or Berries. 
Tribe III. Hellebores. — Leaves alternate. 

a. Fruits follicles. 

Genus 7. Isopyrum. — Flowers apetalous, white; leaves 

compound. 
Genus 8. Caltha. — Flowers apetalous, yellow; leaves 

simple. 
Genus 9. Aquilegia. — Flowers complete; petals each 

with spur; flowers regular. 
Genus 10. Delphinium. — Flowers complete, irregular, 

upper sepal spurred. 
Genus 11. Pceonia. — Flowers large, mostly double by 

cultivation; pistils imbedded in fleshy disk. 

b. Fruits berries. 

Genus 12. Actcea. —Flowers in short racemes. 
Expand this outline by adding other characters in which the 
plants before you differ. 

III. Distribution and Economic Importance. 

This order contains about five hundred species of 
plants, most of them in temperate and cold regions. 

Most of the plants possess an acrid juice, which is 
sometimes poisonous. 

Many of the species were formerly used in medicine, 



132 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

but Aconite and Hellebore are. the only important ones 
now used by physicians. 

Many ornamental plants commonly cultivated in 
gardens belong to this order. Among these may be 
mentioned the Columbines (Aquilegia), Virgin' s-bower 
(Clematis), Larkspur (DelphiniiLiii), Love-in-a-mist (Ni- 
gella), Peony (Pceonia), Globeflower (Trollius), etc. 



LESSON XXXII. 

The Dandelion. 

TARAXACUM OFFICINALE WEBER. 

Materials required: The pupils may furnish them- 
selves with fresh plants in sufficient quantities. Care 
must be taken to secure plants quite entire, roots and 
all. If studied before the fruit has had time to ripen, 
akenes from previous years may be shown. A micro- 
scopic slide to show the milk-tubes is also helpful. 

I. The Form of the Plant. 

a. Note the entire absence of tne usual stem ; the 
leaves appear to spring directly from the root. The 
fact seems to be that the internodes of the stem remain 
undeveloped, so that root and stem are consolidated. 
Such plants are described as acaulescent, stemless. Note 
the abundant milky, bitter, resinous sap in all parts. 

b. The foliage. Note the form of the leaves ; their 
origin below the surface of the ground, as if the root 



THE DANDELION. 133 

in its downward growth had pulled the leaves .after it. 
Stretch the leaf out smooth, and sketch its outline, at 
least on one side. 

c. The root. 

Xote its length, its irregular branching, the numer- 
ous rootlets. If the specimen has been lifted carefully 
from the ground, the smaller rootlets will be found 
clothed with root-hairs near the tips, just as in Capsella. 
Notice that at each broken tip a drop of milk coagulates, 
and closes the wound. The milk is probably also pro- 
tective in other ways ; taste it. Such milk in plants is 
called latex ; from such latex in Rubber-trees comes 
India-rubber, caoutchouc. 

Make a thin cross-section of a larger root, and note 
the woody axis, the spongy cortex, the thin epidermis ; 
the woody axis of each rootlet continuous with that 
of the main root, as in Capsella. 

Note the persistence of the root ; perhaps you can 
find out how long the plant endures. Is it annual, bien- 
nial, or perennial ? 

II, The Ixflorescence. 

a. Note the succession of flower-buds. In a large 
plant you may find them of all ages : the t omentum, 
wool, by which the buds are always protected ; the 
scape, which by elongating carries the flowers aloft, — 
erect in the morning, what position does it assume later 
in the day ? What position when the flowers have 
wilted ? When the fruit matures ? 

b. Study now the unfolded bud. It seems to be the 
flower. Of what is it made up ? Look with your lens, 



134 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

and find scores of small flowers, florets, each with sta- 
mens, pistil, and corolla at the least. 

Cut the whole structure vertically through the centre, 
and see that the florets all stand on the flat, widened end 
of the scape, the disk. Such an arrangement of florets 
upon a receptacle or disk constitutes a head. Note that 
the florets are developed, come to perfection from the 
centre outwardly ; that is, the inflorescence of the head is 
centrifugal. Sometimes the process of inflorescence 
(blooming) does not in one day pass from circumfer- 
ence to centre of the. head. Mark in the field such a 
head, and see whether it opens more than once to the 
completion of the floral development. 

e. What seems to be the flower of the Dandelion is 
therefore not a flower at all, but a collection of flowers ; 
and what seems to be the green calyx on the outside is 
not a calyx, since it surrounds not a single flower, but a 
flower-cluster. The seeming calyx is a circle of bracts 
forming what is called the involucre. In some plants 
which have such an involucre as this of the Dandelion, 
there is below the involucre a regular gradation to be 
seen between the ordinary foliage-leaf and the bract 
of the involucre. In the Dandelion the branch which 
bears the flowers, the scape, bears no foliage-leaves. 
The bracts of the involucre, scales, axe accordingly quite 
distinct in form from any of the leaves, " well differen- 
tiated." 

Notice the transition from the outer bracts of the 
involucre to colored corollas of the florets. Observe 
that the scales of the involucre are in two rows. Are 
there any scales upon the disk, amid the flowers ? 



THE DANDELION. 135 

d. The floret. 

Take from the disk a single floret, and, holding it on 
a needle-point, examine it with your lens. The follow- 
ing organs can readily be made out : — 

1. The calyx. Recognizable by its position, out- 

side the other organs, adherent, blent with 
the ovary below, and there indistinguishable ; 
above, frayed into fine white silken hairs, the 
pappus. 

2. The corolla. Note its color ; its form, a tube 

below, monopetalous, extended above to form a 
long, strap-shaped, petal-like organ. Note the 
notches at the tip of each corolla. 

3. The stamens. Note their number ; their tips may 

be counted in the unopened flowers at the centre 
of the disk, their filaments in flowers further 
developed ; their coherence by their anthers, 
so that these form a straight tube (syngene- 
sious) ; their dehiscence ; the nature of the 
pollen. 

4. The pistil ; its simple ovary, long style, recurving 

style-arms (or branches), which bear the stig- 
matic surface on their inner faces. Note the 
several positions occupied by the style at differ- 
ent stages of the anthesis (blooming) ; at first 
below the level of the anther-ring, then emer- 
ging, showing the anthers as a collar, at length 
with a cleft summit, the arms slowly recurving. 
Sketch these three phases of the floret. 



136 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XXXIII. 

The Dandelion. — Continued. 

TARAXACUM OFFICINALE WEBER. 

Materials required : As in the preceding lesson. To 
these add Erigeron bellidi folium, Fleabane, if obtain- 
able ; pressed flowers of the Dahlia, Sunflower, Aster, 
etc. The disk of a large Sunflower from which the seeds 
have fallen will be instructive. Flowers from any culti- 
vated species of the order Compositce may afford further 
material for comparison ; fresh leaves of Lettuce, to 
show milky juice, etc. 

I. Peculiarities in the Inflorescence of the Dande- 
lion. Note : — 

1. That the flower-cluster is indeterminate; that it 
corresponds to a raceme in fact, and may be regarded 
as a flower-cluster not different from that in Capsella, 
except that all pedicels and internodes are left undevel- 
oped, and all the flowers appear in and on one and the 
same plane, the disk. 

2. That the circumstances and conditions in which 
the florets are developed, and under which they act, 
explain many of their peculiarities. 

a. The whole floiver-chister simulates a single flower. 
So perfect is the ruse, that not insects only, but even 
men, are deceived, to the great majority of whom the 
cluster is a flower. The involucre plays the role of 
calyx, and the rays make up the rest. The botanists 



THE DANDELION. 137 

early recognized the true state of the case, but unfortu- 
nately called the head compound (composed of simple 
flowers), and gave to the Dandelion order the name 
Composite (compound). In many of the Compositce 
the resemblance of the head entire to the form of some 
simple flower is rendered more striking still by reserv- 
ing to only the marginal flowers the form of a ray (ray- 
floivers), which then simulate petals, while the much 
reduced central florets, disk flowers, make up often a 
differently colored centre. The Sunflower, even a dry 
specimen, shows this well. Compare, when convenient, 
the Marigold, the Daisy, the Aster. The common Elea- 
bane, Erigeron bellidifolium, can perhaps be collected 
in the fields, and will afford interesting comparisons in 
color, shape, etc. 

b. The place of the calyx, the usual protective en- 
velop of the flower, being thus supplied by the involucre, 
protective envelop once for all for all the flowers, the 
function of the real calyxes is gone. The calyx of each 
floret is left, therefore, either to disappear, unnecessary 
and unnourished, or to remain on the condition of as- 
suming some new function. Shut from exposure to the 
light, it becomes white and thin; its margin, poorly 
nourished, frays out into the delicate plumes of a para- 
chute, and we have at last in the pappus a new organ 
(made out of an old one), an organ for the dispersal of 
the ripened seeds. 

e. Chaff among the florets. 

By cutting a Dahlia or Sunflower directly through 
the middle, vertically, it will be seen that associated with 



138 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

the florets on the disk, there is still another set of or- 
gans to which we should give heed. Behind (toward 
the margin) each floret stands a simple bract, pale or 
colorless as the calyx, and for the same reason. These 
bracts constitute the so-called chaff of the disk. Each 
represents the leaf in the axil of which the flower is 
produced. We have seen that the flower is a modified 
branch, the branch an expanded bud. The bud appears 
normally in the axil of a leaf ; hence we expect that a 
flower will be always backed or subtended by a bract or 
foliar organ of some kind. In the Compositce these 
bracts are more or less suppressed, become mere rudi- 
ments, or, as in the Dandelion, disappear altogether. 

II. The Pollination of the Dandelion Florets. 

The Dandelion is fertilized almost exclusively by the 
aid of insects. Watch on any sunny day, and note the 
bees and other insects crawling upon the flowers. How 
does this effect pollination ? What are the special 
adaptations to prevent self-fertilization ; i.e., to pre- 
vent any particular floret from being fertilized by 
its own pollen? What is the final position of the 
style-arms ? and what bearing does this have upon 
the problem ? 1 

In the composite arrangement of flowers, is there 
any economy (1) of energy on the part of the plant ? 
(2) of time on the part of the insect ? Is the Dandelion 
a bad weed ? Has it any advantages over other plants 
in the struggle for place, existence, on the earth ? 

1 See Gray's " Botanical Text Book/' Structural Botany, p. 222, 
sec. 411. 



THE DANDELION. 139 

III. Relatives op the Dandelion. 

In most composites the flowers are differentiated, as 
in the Sunflower. There are tubular disk-flowers and 
strap-shaped marginal- or ray-flowers. A few, however, 
like the Dandelion, have strap-shaped flowers only, and 
constitute its nearest relatives. Among these are Let- 
tuce (Lactuca sativa), Salsify (Tragopogon porrifolius 
L.), Chicory (Cichoriamintybus L.) ; and, strange to say, 
all these, and all of their group, have milky juice. Com- 
posites of the Sunflower type are, however, far more 
numerous. Indeed, in most parts of the country the 
autumn flora is very largely made up of Sunflowers and 
their kin, the Asters, Goldenrods, Thistles, Daisies, 
Mayweeds, Ragweeds, Burdocks, etc., — the world is full 
of them! 

Our native Compositor are accordingly divided for 
convenience into two groups ; thus : — 

Florets, at least those of the disk, tubular, — 

Tubuliflorce. 

Types the Sunflower, Daisy, Goldenrod, etc. 

Florets all strap-shaped, juice milky, — 

Ligulatiflorce. 

Type the Dandelion, etc. 

For the identification of the species of the Compos- 
itor, recourse must now be had to some convenient man- 
ual ; but in every case you may recognize a member of 
the order by the conjunction of these two characters : — 

1. Flowers gathered to form a head. 

2. Anthers syngensious. 



140 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

LESSON XXXIV. 

Apples, Plums, and Cherries. 

PYRUS MALUS L., PRUNUS DOMESTICA L., AND PRUNUS 
CERASUS L. 

Materials required: Apple, Plum, and Cherry branches 
in full bloom ; wood-sections of the same species ; simi- 
lar sections also of Thorn-apple, Crab, Wild Cherry; 
seeds of Peach, Almond, Plum, Apricot, Nectarine; 
Rose-hips ; herbarium specimens of the Wild Rose. 

I. General Description. 

a. Let the pupil bring in a written report of what 
he is able to observe concerning the fruit-trees in bloom ; 
their mode of branching ; the bark, its thickness, sur^ 
face characters, and decadence ; the vigor of the trees in 
neighboring gardens and orchards. 

b. Compare all the wood-sections available. Note 
the differences in the grain of the wood ; its rapidity of 
growth as indicated by the annual rings. Learn to rec- 
ognize the different species by the appearance of the 
wood or bark. 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. Its abundance ; time in reference to the appear- 
ance of the leaves. 

b. The individual flower. 

Notice not the various sets of organs alone, their 
numbers, colors, shapes, etc., but especially their peculi- 



APPLES, PLUMS, AND CHERRIES. 141 

arities, as of position or adhesion. Where are the 
petals attached ? The numerous unequal stamens ? Ob- 
serve the position of the pistil or pistils, one in the 
Cherry, five in the Apple ; in both cases inserted in the 
disk, a hollow receptacle continuous with the branchlet, 
and lining the calyx, consolidated with it. Notice that 
in the Cherry or Plum the calyx remains distinct from 
the ovary ; in the Apple the calyx coheres with the sev- 
eral pistils. This results in the formation of two widely 
different types of fruit. Compare an Apple and a 
Cherry, 

III. The Foliage. 

The arrangement of the leaves has already been dis- 
cussed, Lesson II., ii., f. Note here, in addition to 
form, texture, surface, etc., the slender stipules, espe- 
cially in the Apple, so slight as to be easily overlooked 
and quickly deciduous. Look for stipules on the leaves 
of the Rose-bush. Compare the venation of the leaves of 
the Cherry and Apple ; the lower surfaces of the same 
leaves. 

IV. The Pollination of the Flowers. 

a. Here there is no doubt as to the agency by which 
the pollen is carried. Let the pupil report what he 
may observe, comparing all accessible fruit-trees on a 
sunny day. Capture some of the bees from the trees, 
and with a lens examine their legs and bodies. 

b. What attractions are offered by the trees (Apple, 
Plum, etc.) to induce insects to visit the flowers ? Enu- 
merate at least three. 



142 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

V. Classification. 

a. In what respects do all the species compared 
agree ? Which agree more closely, — Plums and Apples, 
or Plums and Cherries ? Compare the seeds of Cher- 
ries, Plums, Apricots, Nectarines, Almonds, and Peaches. 
As compared with Apples, Service Berries, etc., these 
make a group or Tribe by themselves, — the Pruned ; 
while] Apples, Thorn-apples, Crab-apples, etc., make up 
the Pome^. 

b. ISTow study the Rose-hips. Observe that these 
also have essentially the same structure as the young 
apple, except that the carpels do not coalesce with the 
receptacle ; otherwise we should have an apple with 
many single-seeded carpels. If you can compare a 
Wild Pose, you will discover that in the floral arrange- 
ment the Wild Pose agrees in all particulars with the 
Apple bloom. Still, the Pose-hip is not an Apple ; so 
we make it the type of still a third group, — the Pose^. 

c. Draw a diagram of the apple-blossom. 

d. How the various tribes of rose-like plants are 
united together to form a natural Order will appear in 
our next lesson. 



LESSON XXXV. 
The Strawberry. 

FRAGARIA V1RGINIANA EHEH, or 
FRAG ARIA VESCA LINN. 

Materials required : Plants of the wild or cultivated 
Strawberry in flower ; herbarium specimens (fresh speci- 



THE STRAWBERRY. 143 

mens are better) of Geum album, Gmelin, or Potentilla 
canadensis L., Rosa blanda; a few Dandelion roots and 
Negundo twigs. 

I. General Description. 

a. jSTote the threefold structure, — roots, stem, and 
leaves. The stem, subterranean. Make a smooth cross- 
section of the stem, and compare with similar sections 
of the Dandelion root, the Box Elder shoot, and see 
what evidence you can find from the standpoint of 
structure that the Strawberry rhizoma is really a stem. 
What other evidences of stem-nature does the rhizome 
present ? 

b. Note the various sorts of roots presented by the 
plant, — the long fibrous roots of last year, the new 
roots of the season. 

c. The " runners," branches. Observe their origin, 
function. Draw a diagram to show how such branches 
serve to reproduce the plant. 

II. The Foliage. 

Compare the leaves of the Strawberry with those of 
the Eose, part by part. In the Strawberry leaves, note 
the pubescence of petioles, and the lower surface of the 
leaflets; the venation in relation to marginal indenta- 
tions. 

III. Inflorescence. 

a. Its type. Which flower in the cluster blooms 
first ? How does the process of anthesis compare with 
that of Capsella ? 



144 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

b. The individual flower. 

With the lens look the flower full in the face, and 
note its successive whorls, calyx, corolla, stamens, pis- 
tils. Note the accessory bractlets behind the calyx. 

Now with a razor make a vertical section of the 
flower, and observe the insertion, attachment of the 
several organs. 

Compare in all these particulars with what has been 
observed in the Apple, the Rose. Aside from the habit 
of growth, the chief difference between the Strawberry 
and the Rose lies in the form of the disk : in the Straw- 
berry the form of the disk is convex ; and it becomes at 
length the globose berry, over the surface of which we 
find the scattered seeds, fruits (the ripened pistils). 

IV. Fertilization. 

How is pollination effected ? In some cultivated 
Strawberries the flowers are dioecious, or at least monoe- 
cious ; and provision must be made in the planting for 
fertilization, or no fruit is produced. Confer with your 
gardener on this point. 

V. As to Classification. 

a. From our studies in Section III., it is plain, as 
we knew before by experience, the Strawberry is not 
a Rose, though very near it. In fact, it is the type of 
a kind of Roses. Compare now specimens of Geum 
album Gmel., or Potentilla canadensis L., both very 
common white-flowered weeds, very like Strawberries, 
though failing to ripen in the same way the disk, 
These herbaceous rose-like plants make up the Straw- 
berry group or family, the Fr a gamete, 



THE ROSES. 145 

b. In a similar way we may study the Blackberry 
(Rubus villosus ), and the Raspberry (Rubus idceus), 
when these come to bloom, and find their Eose charac- 
ters and their common peculiarities as well. In the 
Blackberry not only does the disk (receptacle) become 
pulpy, but the outer carpel in each case as well, as in 
the Cherry. In the Raspberry the outer part of the car- 
pel only, while the torus (receptacle) remains unaltered. 
The Blackberry and Raspberry, accordingly, with their 
clustered drupaceous fruits, make still another section of 
the Roses, — the Rube^:. 

c. We may now bring together all these several 
groups, tribes, or families of Rose-like plants into one, 
the 

Order ROSACE/E, 

of which the principal characters are : — 

1. Flowers regular ; stamens borne on the calyx ; pis- 
tils distinct, or in the Pomece united with the calyx- 
tube. 

2. Leaves alternate and stipulate. 



LESSON XXXVI. 

The Roses. — Review. 

no SAC EM. 

Let each pupil write an essay on the order Rosacea, 
dwelling especially on such particulars as the follow- 
ing:— 



146 ELEMENTALLY BOTANY. 

a. The structural (morphological) peculiarities which 
distinguish all rosaceous plants, as illustrated by the 
plants recently reviewed. 

b. The economic importance of the order. 

c. What is the purpose of what is popularly called 
fruit ? For example, why does the Plum produce its 
sweet, juicy drupe, the Strawberry its luscious pulp, the 
Rose its scarlet urns ? 

d. Compare with the Wild Rose any of our culti- 
vated forms. What is a double rose ? What becomes 
of stamens, etc., when the rose becomes very " double " ? 

Has any one seen a green rose ? How is such a 
flower to be explained ? Perhaps some one has found 
among cultivated roses a branch which seemed to grow 
through the flower, and bore leaves, possibly a second 
rose beyond the first ; what is the significance of such 
a freak ? Compare always the relation of a flower to a 
bud, and a bud to a branch. 



LESSON XXXVII. 
The Wild Violet. 

VIOLA PALM AT A L. VAB. CU CULL ATA GRAY. 

Materials required: A sufficient quantity of plants 
of the species, roots and all, the roots clean-washed, and 
all kept moist until used ; Pansy flowers and plants in 
sufficient numbers for comparison, if convenient ; her- 
barium specimens of the species, with dry fruits and 
seeds. 



THE WILD VIOLET, 147 

I. General Description. 

Compare with the plant last studied, Fragaria. 
Notice the short rootstock, stem 3 the roots and rootlets ; 
the leaves. 

II. The Foliage. 

Study the form of the leaf, — its inrolled base lends 
the scientific, specific name ; the parts of the leaf. Are 
there any stipules as in the Koses ? Sketch an ex- 
panded leaf (flattened out), the blade wider than long. 

III. The Inflorescence. 

a. Observe that flowers of two sorts are present, — 
open, conspicuous blue flowers, and inconspicuous bud- 
like flowers that, by their smallness, are apt to be over- 
looked. Sometimes, too, they are developed somewhat 
tardily, later in the season. These bud-like blossoms 
are called clelstogamous flowers. 1 They may claim at- 
tention later on. 

b. Note the origin of the flowers, borne singly on 
scapes or branches. Does the scape itself bear any evi- 
dence of being a branch ? Of course the branch is 
here extremely specialized, and must not be expected 
to wear too many ordinary branch-features. Note the 
flexure of the scape above, so that the flower turns 
entirely over backwards, becomes resupinate. 

c. The individual flower of the ordinary open sort. 

1. Notice its general form ; the lack of radial sym- 
metry. Does the flower possess symmetry at 
all ? Hold the flower facing you. Imagine it 
1 See Gray's " Botanical Text Book," Structural Botany, p. 241. 



148 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

cleft by a vertical plane passing between the 
*two upper petals. The flower will be divided 
throughout into two exactly similar parts. 
Can you in the same way pass other planes 
through the flower to divide it into similar 
parts ? How would the case be with the Straw- 
berry-bloom or the Apple-blossom ? Flowers 
which admit of symmetrical division by one 
plane only are said to have bilateral symmetry, 
are zygomorpliic (literally, yoke-shaped) ; while 
flowers which, like the Rose and the Apple- 
blossom, have radial symmetry are called acti- 
nomorphic (rayed). 

2. Study the shape of the various parts : the sepals ; 
the paired petals ; the odd petal ; the stamens, 
their coherence and dehiscence, on two of them 
appendages extending backward into the spur, 
or sac, of the odd petal. What happens when 
these appendages are pressed from below ? 
The pistil ; its general form, style, the open 
stigma, its direction. 

d. The cleistogamous flowers. 

These are so small as to afford some difficulty in 
investigation. They lie low down, and may be dis- 
covered of all ages, from mere rudiments to ripened 
pods. The entire absence of anything like petals will 
be usually a sufficient criterion for identification. In 
flowers of medium size the fact of fertilization can be 
discovered by examining with the Coddington a vertical 
section through the pod. The pollen-tubes Gan be seen 



THE WILD VIOLET. 149 

easily, like cobweb threads passing from the style down- 
wards among the ovules. 1 

IV. Fertilization. 

Consider the problem in the light of facts already 
brought out. Do insects visit the colored flowers ? 
Have any of the conspicuous flowers left pods, so far 
as can be seen ? As a means of subsequent identifica- 
tion, tie yarn about the pedicels in some cases, and see 
how the problem results. 2 

V. Compare in all particulars the common Pansy if 
obtainable. Any species other than that first studied 
may be used for review. 

VI. Distribution. 

Violets in one form or another occur over nearly the 
whole world ; even the genus Viola is nearly cosmopoli- 
tan. Our species, var. cucullata Gray, seems to be com- 
mon over the whole country, from Maine to California. 
Other familiar species are : — 

The Common Yellow Violet, V. pubescens Aiton. 
The English Violet, V. odorata Linn. 

The Pansy, V. tricolor Linn. 

1 Read Darwin's chapter on this subject, Forms of Flowers, p. 310. 

2 In addition to references already given, see Muller's ''Fertiliza- 
tion of Flowers," pp. 117-121. 



150 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XXXVIII. 

The Scotch Pine. 
PINUS SYLVEST1US LINN. 

Materials required: The pupils are to have access to 
one or more trees, which must be studied about the time 
of blooming. 1 

For the laboratory provide short branch-tips, to show 
foliage, buds, etc. ; Avood-sections a few inches across, to 
show bark and wood-structure, rate of increase in thick- 
ness, etc. 

I. The Trees. 

Let the pupils visit the tree, or trees, and report on 
such particulars as the following : — 

a. The tree itself ; its size, form, mode of branching. 
Compare in the latter particular the branching of trees 
heretofore studied. Notice in the Pine the continued 
indefinite upward extension of the central stem. Com- 
pare other evergreens, as the Spruce. Study the arrange- 
ment of the buds, and find out how the stem maintains 
its ascendancy among the branches. Could one deter- 
mine approximately the tree's age by the whorls of 
branches ? Can you determine (approximately) the 
annual increase in height ? Such a stem as this of the 

1 The time of inflorescence varies with the seasons ; in the lati- 
tude of Iowa, not far from June 1. The time of inflorescence is 
short. The tree must he watched, in order to observe its various 
phases. The present lesson may he studied just before the tree 
blooms. 



THE SCOTCH PINE. 151 

Pine is called excurrent, as distinguished from the fash- 
ion of the Elm, for example, which is described as deli- 
quescent. These terms are of Latin origin ; are they 
appropriate ? 

b. The bark. 

Note the bark on the trunk of the oldest tree to which 
you have access ; follow up to the branches, noting the 
transition from strong, rough scales to papery layers, 
quickly deciduous ; the green bark under the latter, more 
easily seen on branches, say, one inch in diameter : on 
the twigs find with the lens regularly disposed scales 
(scale-leaves). 

c. The twigs. 

Note their extension in length ; the terminal bud ; the 
bud-scales, scale-leaves, the latter of two parts ; bud-scale 
scars of successive years ; the method of branch-devel- 
opment, (1) in a foliage branch, (2) a branch bearing sta- 
mens, ( 3) in the branch which bears the cone of the 
season ; the very short twigs or branchlets that bear 
the green foliage. Note that these fall off at length, 
and leave what appear like leaf-scars. 

d. The foliage. 

i. The green conspicuous portion, made up of " nee- 
dles," each a leaf ; how many needles in a 
cluster ? borne on the short branchlets only. 
Examine a single needle ; note the shape, color, 
apex, margin ; examine with a lens, and find 
lines of minute openings, stomata. Note the 
twist in the mature leaves ; compare young 
leaves on the branch of the season ; note that 



152 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

the leaves are all soft at base, the growing- 
part. Make a thin section ; examine with the 
lens, and find a white centre the only vein ; 
resin-ducts. Pull a pair of leaves apart, and 
find (sometimes) a tiny bud between. Might 
there be more leaves ? Notice that the leaves 
face each other, and incline to stand edgewise 
to the stem. Notice the sheath about the base 
of the leaves ; the numerous papery bracts that 
make it up. Draw a pair of leaves with their 
sheath. Compare the bud-scales of the opening 
bud. Draw a single scale. 
e. The wood-section. 

Note on the end of the section the component parts, 
the bark, the wood, the cambium ; the heartwood, the 
white wood ; the lines of growth. How much has the 
tree increased in diameter each year ? What is the aver- 
age annual increase ? How long at this rate would be 
required to furnish a pine log two feet in diameter ? 



LESSON XXXIX. 

The Scotch Pine. — Continued. 

Materials required: FloAvering branches, staminate, 

pistillate ; cones of one year on the branches ; cones of 

two years, and mature cones from which the seed is 
falling. 

1 In pleasant weather this lesson can well be studied by the pupils 
out-of-doors, in presence of the trees studied. 



THE SCOTCH PINE. 153 

I. The Inflorescence. 

a. The staminate flowers. 

Examine the cluster ; note that it is like a compound 
spike ; i.e., a spike made up of spikes. Supposing each 
spikelet a flower, of what parts does it consist ? Is there 
calyx or corolla ? Notice the central axis and its attach- 
ment to the main stem ; are there any bracts ? Scale- 
leaves ? To what, then, on the foliage branch does this 
central axis correspond ? 

Compare now a single stamen ; examine with the 
lens. Each is a scale-shaped body flattened above, next 
the axis, and bears a pair of swollen sacs below. Some 
of the stamens have probably begun to discharge the 
contents of these sacs ? How ? How does the anther 
open ? Draw a single stamen as it appears under your 
lens. 

Supposing the central axis of each flower to be 
a branchlet, as we have seen it really is, each stamen 
then would be what ? On which side of the leaf (dorsal 
or ventral ) are the pollen-sacs developed ? Note the 
abundant pollen. When convenient, examine the pol- 
len, using a microscope of moderate magnifying power. 
Find two inflated empty sacs (wings), one on each side 
of the pollen-grain proper. 

b. Note the terminal bud on the stamen-bearing 
branch. It is probably developing, and will later bear 
a few branchlets with leaves. Meantime, the staminate 
flowers all fall, leaving a vacant ring, or collar, around 
the twig. Look at last year's twigs, and find the loca- 
tion of last year's staminate flowers. Here we have ad- 



154 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

ditional evidence that our interpretation of the flower, 
its morphology, is correct. 

c. The pistillate flowers, the cones. 
1. Find at the tips of some of the branches tiny 
purple cones of the season ; note their posture 
on the tree ; erect or pendent ? Note place of 
the young cone with reference to other buds 
on the twig ; does it come as a development of 
the terminal bud? 

Study now the structure of the little cone. 
Examine with the lens ; note its form ; its 
central axis. Is it stalked or sessile ? The 
bracts, of two sorts, the lower (outer) thin, 
simple bracts ; the upper thicker, the carpel lary 
scales (serving the office of carpels). 

Dissect off one of the scales ; notice a ridge, 
keel, along the middle ; on which face of the 
carpel is it ? Find at the base of the scale two 
little swellings, the ovules, one on each side 
of the keel. Perhaps you can make out with 
your lens a minute opening at the lowest ex- 
tremity of each ovule. Supposing the bract 
upon the axis as before to subtend a branchlet, 
then where are the leaves ? 

Remember how the ordinary leaves stand fa- 
cing each other. Imagine the two leaves grown 
fast together by their posterior (next the axis) 
edges, the anterior edges remaining free and 
becoming divergent; the line of union would 
form the keel of our little carpellary scale, and 
the ovules, although next the axis now, are 



THE SCOTCH PWE. 155 

really developed on the back ( lower outer, 
rounded surface ) of the leaves, just as the 
pollen-sac is formed on the back of the leaf 
of which the stamen is the representative. 

Draw a scale to show all that you can make 
out under your lens. 

Compare now a cone one year old. Note upon 
the tree the posture of such a cone ; erect or 
pendent ? Note the changes that a year has 
brought in size, shape, color, texture. Split 
such a cone through the middle, and find the 
tapering axis ; the bracts and carpellary scales 
in section. Note the changed shape of the 
latter, so that the space between their tips is 
completely filled up ; the cone is solid. 

Find the white ovules at the bases of the 
scales ; probably not all scales have proved 
fertile. Dissect out a fruiting-scale, and draw 
to show at least the upper surface. 

Compare a cone of two years, noting its position 
on the tree as before compared with the cone 
of one year. What changes can you observe ? 
Compare a cone that has reached full maturity 
on the tree, the scales all reflexed. Find the 
black seeds, the fully developed ovules. Note 
the broad transparent wing with which each 
seed is furnished. Compare the samara of the 
Maple. Draw a mature seed. Explain with 
reference to the development and dispersal of 
its fruit ; the several positions and phases of 
the cone. 



156 ELEMENTABY BOTANY. 

II. The Fertilization. 

By what agency is pine pollen transported ? What 
adaptation in the pollen-grain ? Such pollen from Pine 
forests is sometimes carried hundreds of miles. In the 
young cone what adaptation for the reception of the fly- 
ing pollen ? Notice that in the pistillate flower there is 
no style ; the pollen-grain rolls down the tiny scale, 
and lodges directly against the micropyle. Fertilization 
is then effected practically as in the Trillium, though 
much more slowly. 

The surprising thing about the cone is that its 
ovules for fertilization lie thus open to the world. For 
this reason the great Scotch botanist Robert Brown 
called such plants as the Pines, and the cone-bearers gen- 
erally, Gymnosperms (Gk. gymnos, naked, and sperma, a 
seed). Plants like the Trillium, for instance, in which 
the seeds are developed in a closed ovary, are called, by 
way of distinction, Angiosperms (Gk. angeion, a vessel). 



LESSON XL. 

The White Pine. 

PINUS STROBUS LINN. 

Materials required: Mature cones of the common 
Pine ; twigs bearing the fresh foliage. The pupils 
should have access to trees which may be freely ex- 
amined. 

The Scotch Pine, as its common name would indi- 
cate, is not native to North America. By Englishmen 



THE WHITE PINE. 157 

the tree is called the Scotch Pine ; but it is, in fact, the 
common Pine of all Northern Europe. Linne, when he 
first proposed for the tree its scientific name, called it 
therefore simply JPinus sylvestris, the Pine of the forest. 
America, however, is especially the land of Pine- 
trees. One of the most widespread species is that 
known as White Pine. It ranges as far west as Iowa, 
makes up what remains of the once splendid forests of 
Wisconsin and Minnesota, and is commonly planted 
throughout the whole country. 

1. Let the student now carefully compare the White 
Pine l with the Scotch Pine in the various particulars 
enumerated in Lessox XXXIX., and bring in a written 
report of his observations. 

2. Let the student especially compare the cones of 
the two Pines : — 

a. In structure ; relative size ; size and shape of the 
carpellary scales, pointing out the particulars 
in which the cones of the two trees agree and 
differ. 

b In the history of their development. How many 
phases of the cone of the White Pine are found 
at one time upon the tree ? - 

3. Let the student discuss the economic value of 
both trees. For what purposes are both planted ? 
What is the source of the Pine lumber in common 
use ? 

1 If the White Pine be not accessible, some other may be se- 
lected, as circumstances may dictate. 

2 The White Pine is in bloom a little later with us than P. 
sylvestris. 



158 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XL I. 
More Relatives of the Scotch Pine. 

Materials required: Cones and coniferous fruit of 
every description ; the greater the variety the better. 
The following will probably be included ; cones of : — 

Tinas strobus L., The White Pine. 

Plnus sylvestris L., The Scotch Pine. 

Piiius austriaca Hoss, Austrian Pine, 

Picea excelsa Link, Norway Spruce. 

Thuja oceidentalis L., Arbor-vitse. 

Juniperus virginiana L., Red Cedar. 

I. Morphology. 

1. First compare the cones of the Austrian with 
those of the Scotch Pine and those of the White Pine. 
Although all different, yet in some particulars they 
all agree. As in our comparison of the Maples, these 
particulars enter into a definition of the genus (kind) 
Plnus. 

2. Compare next the cones of the Spruce with those 
of the Scotch Pine. Should the Spruce be put with 
the Pines ? Why not ? Draw a single scale of the 
Spruce cone, and compare with the drawing made of 
the scales of the Scotch Pine cone. Compare the scales ; 
the seeds. 

3. Compare the cones of the Arbor-vitae with those 
of P. sylvestris. Note the difference in the arrangement 



RELATIVES OF THE SCOTCH PINE. 159 

of the scales ; but consult the arrangement of .the foli- 
age leaves in the two forms compared. 

4. Compare the cones (berries) of the Red Cedar. 
These seem to be farthest away of all. These are 
cones true enough ; you may count the component coa- 
lescent scales. We have here simply a specialization of 
cone structure, adapting it to a new mode of fruit dis- 
persal. How is the fruit (seeds) of the Pine scattered ? 
What can be the meaning of this soft semi-edible fruit ? 
What is the significance of edible fruit in general ? 

II. Classification. 

All these plants are like the Scotch Pine, not only 
that they are gymnospermous, but they are, as we see, all 
cone-bearers as well ; that is, they all belong to a large 
group of the plants known as the 

Order CONIFER/E, 

in which the typical fruit is a cone like that of the Pine ; 
but it may be greatly reduced in the number of fruiting- 
scales, even more so than in the Cedar. In our species 
of Yew, for instance, obtainable in some localities, the 
fruit is a one- seeded little red berry, representing, appar- 
ently, a single scale. 

The order Coniferce, then, includes all the Pines, all 
the Spruces, Larches, Firs, Cypresses, Cedars, Y r ews, of 
the world. It is thus a magnificent order, and includes 
many of the finest specimens of plant-life now on the 
earth. For example, the Sugar Pines of California 
(P. lambertianct) are much like our White Pine, but 
reach a height of two hundred and fifty feet, and a 



160 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

diameter of fifteen feet ! The giant Redwoods (Sequoia 
gigantea and S. se?npervirens) of the Sierras and Coast 
Range in California are larger still ! Such trees are, of 
course, of great age. The largest have stood on earth 
from fifteen to twenty centuries, and well merit preser- 
vation at the hands of enlightened governments, to say 
nothing of enlightened private owners. 

III. Economic Value. 

From what has been said and learned, it will appear 
that the economic value of the order is simply incalcu- 
lable. Nearly all the trees mentioned in the last para- 
graph are lumber-trees. Let the pupil endeavor to find 
out the species of tree from which comes each of the 
following products of the mill : — 

Soft Pine lumber. 
Hard Pine lumber. 
Cypress lumber. 
Redwood shingles. 
Cedar shingles. 
Hemlock lumber. 
Spruce lumber. 



LESSON XL, 1 1. 

The Common Locust. 

ROB IN I A PSEUD ACACIA LINN. 

Materials required : Branches in full bloom ; dry 
fruit of previous years ; wood-sections as usual ; pods 
of the Honey Locust and other leguminous plants, as 



THE COMMON LOCUST. 161 

the Peanut, the Pea. the Bean ; young shoots a year or 
two old ; peas and beans softened by soaking in water. 

I. General Description. 

Let the pupil, as in case of trees previously studied, 
give account as full as possible of what may be discov- 
ered by studying the species in the field. 

a. Its habitat, habit of growth, resultant outline, 
form ; reproduction through sprouts from roots, running 
sometimes for great distances in loose soil. 

b. The bark ; on younger shoots and branches thin 
and striped, later on larger stems black and rugose. The 
thorns, their persistence. The Avood (as seen in sections) ; 
white wood, alburnum ; heartwood, duramen. Qualities 
of the wood ; its hardness, density, strength, suscepti- 
bility to polish, economic value, uses, imperfection. 

II. The Foliage. 

a. The compound leaf borne on the conspicuous new 
branchlets. Note the persistent bud-scales, velvet-lined ; 
enumerate the parts of the leaves ; in young leaves note 
the manner of unfolding ; the leaflet, its form, venation. 
Notice the swollen base of the petiole; the pulvinus. 1 
The stipules which produce the thorns are tardy of 
appearance. See Lesson II., ii., h, and XV., v., b 2. 

b. Note the position assumed by the leaves at night- 
fall ; compare with the diurnal position. Is the Locust 
a " sensitive plant " ? Many plants change the position 
of their organs as external conditions change. Compare 
the Oxalis at home, or the Clovers in the dooryard. 

1 See Vine's " Physiology of Plants," p. 532 et seq. 



162 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

The Barberry-bush is notorious for the movements of 
its stamens. 

All these plants are sensitive, we say; but by appro- 
priate means we may demonstrate the sensitiveness of 
many others. All plants are sensitive, but most are 
slow to respond. Such plants as the Barberry, the 
Locust, the Mimosa (Sensitive-plant proper), are excep- 
tional. Perhaps the slow peculiar collapse of the Lo- 
cust leaves at evening is due to diminished light and 
warmth ; but the Locust, as well as many other plants, 
seems to have formed the habit of sleeping at night. 
The activities of the plant are suspended at regular 
intervals. The pulvinus is doubtless in the Locust the 
organ by which change of position on the part of the 
whole leaf is effected. 1 

III. The Inflorescence. 

a. Its general form, more or less perfect racemes 
borne on the wood of the season. Note the odor, color, 
and abundance of the flowers ; the posture of the indi- 
vidual flower on the drooping raceme. 

b. The single flower ; zygomorphic or actinomorphic ? 
Find a pair of bractlets (early caducous) at the base of 
the pedicel. 

1. The downy, spotted monosepalous calyx, its teeth 

alternating with the petals within. 

2. The petals ; their peculiar forms and adaptation to 

each other, lending to the flower its expression, 
so to speak. The older botanists saw in such 
a flower resemblance to a butterfly (Lat. pa- 
1 See Darwin, " The Power of Movement in Plants," p. 311. 



THE COMMON LOCUST. 163 

I'i/io), and named such flowers papilionaceous. 
The several parts of a papilionaceous flower 
have likewise received special names. Thus, 
the broad upper petal is the vex ill urn, or stan- 
dard ; the lateral petals are called wings; while 
the remaining two anterior, somewhat cohering, 
taken together constitute the keel. Are these 
names appropriately applied ? Xote in the 
unopened flower the position of the petals ; 
which petal is outermost ? 

3. But the peculiarities of the papilionaceous flower 

do not stop with the petals. With a sharp 
razor cut the flower vertically through the 
middle, so as to split the keel, and expose a ver- 
tical section of the whole flower. Observe the 
position of stamens and pistil with reference to 
the enclosing petals. 

4. Xotice the cohering filaments of the stamens ; how 

many of these are thus consolidated ? Where 
stamens are all united by their filaments they 
are said to be monadelphous ; if united to form 
two sets they are diadelphous. Which term is 
applicable here ? 

Strip off the petals, and notice the opening 
on the posterior side at the base of the stamen- 
tube. 

5. The pistil; notice its form, pedicel in the cen- 

tre of a nectar-bearing disk ; the ovary, style, 
stigma. With the lens find below the stigma 
a collar of projecting bristles, probably covered 



164 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

with pollen. Compare with the young pistil 
the dry fruit, its two valves, single row of 
seeds. Compare pea-pods, bean-pods, if obtain- 
able. Notice the dehiscence by separation of 
the valves along both sides. Such a fruit as 
that of the Locust or the Bean is called a 
legume. 

6. Sketch a vertical section of the flower, to show 

the details observed. Sketch the summit of 
the style, to show the surrounding bristles. 

7. Examine the seeds ; the cotyledons. Compare 

peas or beans that have been softened a little 
while in water. Note that the cotyledons fill 
up the entire seed, no " albumen;'' i.e., the 
seeds are exalbuminous. 



LESSON XL 1 1 1. 

The Common Locust, — Continued. 

BOB INI A PSEUDACACIA LINN. 

Materials required: Locust branches in full bloom, 
as in the preceding lesson. 

I. Fertilization. 

a. Study once more the form of the fully opened 
flower; color, odor, nectar, plainly proclaim the flower 
adapted to insect visitation. Let us note particularly 
these general features : — 



THE COMMON LOCUST. 165 

1. The display of color emphasized here by the 

shape and place of the banner ; note the spot 
in the middle. 

2. The odor, especially on sunny days, rich and far- 

reaching, summoning, we may believe, from far 
all winged creatures that have noses refined 
and keen. 

3. The nectar waiting inside the stamen-tube, at its 

base, for the tongues of such creatures as can 
find and reach it. 

b. Hold now the flower in one hand, and with the 
thumb and finger of the other push down gently the 
wings, and see what happens. What would occur should 
a bee impose his weight as you have applied the pres- 
sure of your fingers ? The flower in respect to fertili- 
zation possesses a certain mechanism ; each part has its 
appropriate office. The banner, by its size and position, 
assumes the function of display ; the wings afford a 
landing-place ; the keel encloses pistil and stamens in 
most delicate adjustment. Even the style shows special 
modification ; witness the bristly collar. 1 What purpose 
do the bristles serve ? 

c. Is self-fertilization possible in these flowers ? Is 
wind- fertilization possible ? 

II. Distribution. 

The Common Locust has a wide distribution in the 
Eastern United States, ranging from Pennsylvania to 
Iowa, and southward. It is strictly an American tree, 
1 Read Gray's " Structural Botany," p. 225 et seq. 



166 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

although now planted commonly in the parks of the Old 
World, and said to spring in some places spontaneously, 
as if naturalized. 

III. Classification. 

Relatives of the Locust have already been named. 
A very large series of plants, including the Lupines, 
Brooms, Clovers, Wistarias, Peas, and Beans not only 
all have papilionaceous flowers and leguminous fruits, 
but, besides, have just that arrangement of petals which 
we have seen in Robinia ; i.e., the standard in the bud is 
outermost. These make up the Pulse family proper, 
the Papilionacece. Then, we have another somewhat 
smaller group of plants, all of which have leguminous 
fruit } but while some have papilionaceous flowers, others 
have flowers which are almost, if not altogether, actino- 
morphic. But even those in this case which have papil- 
ionaceous flowers do not show the same estivation ; that 
is, the petals in the bud are differently arranged, the 
vexillum being included, tucked under the wings. Ex- 
amples are seen in the beautiful Bed-bud, Cercis cana- 
densis, fortunately familiar in some parts of the country, 
and showing its flowers all over the otherwise naked 
branches, before the leaves ; the Honey-locust, Gleclit- 
schia triacanthos, with beautifully pinnate leaves and 
small greenish flowers ; the Coffee-tree, Gymnocladus can- 
adensis, a fine ornamental and forest tree with regular 
flowers, and having about the same range as our Locust, 
but far less known than it deserves to be. These three 
trees are types of the family Ccesalpinece. 

Finally, there is a large series of plants, though 



RYE. 167 

poorly represented in the Eastern part of our country, 
which have as their type the real " Sensitive-plant/' 
Mimosa pudica. Such plants are not papilionaceous at 
all, but they have leguminous fruits and characteristic 
compound foliage. This third set of plants make up 
the family Mimosece. All the families agree more or 
less perfectly in fruit. Everywhere the type is a le- 
gume. Hence the three families, with their hundreds of 
species, are classed together in one of the most impor- 
tant natural orders of the plant world, the 

Order LEGUMINOSyE. 

Let us recapitulate the characters of the order : — 

( compound, 
1. Leaves -<j alternate, 
( stipulate. 

2 Ovarv 5 sim l 3le ' 

J (in fruit a legume. 

3. Seeds, — exalbuminous. 



LESSON XLIV. 
Rye. — Stem and Leaf, 

SEC ALE CERE ALE LINN. 

Materials required : A few entire plants of Rye from 
the field, the roots carefully washed to show the root 
system, the origin of the several stalks, etc. ; numerous 
single stalks, some ready to bloom, some in full flower, 



168 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

some in later stages of development, if obtainable ; a dry 
cornstalk. 

I. General Description. Note : — 

a. The several parts of the plant, — root, stem, leaves, 
inflorescence. Distinguish from the roots the subterra- 
nean part of the stem, observing the peculiar branching 
by which each plant appears as a collection of stems con- 
solidated at the base. Perhaps the original grain of rye 
may still be found from which the entire cluster rises. 
This peculiar branching of grasses at or in the ground is 
called tellering, or stooling. 

b. The roots ; their origin in successive sets, each set 
a little higher up than the preceding, so that the young- 
est are near the surface of the ground, or even above it ! 
Look at the cornstalk, and recall its " bracing roots " 
(Lesson X.). 

Note the structure of the root, a tough, fibrous, cen- 
tral cylinder, the fibro-vascular part, and the softer, 
thicker cortex, the latter thickly covered with root-hairs. 
These can best be seen by laying the root in water over 
some dark surface. They make the surface of the root 
like velvet. They are, as before noted, the absorbent 
organs of the plant, penetrating between smallest parti- 
cles of earth, and are responsible for much of the diffi- 
culty experienced in washing the roots clean. The root- 
hairs can even be seen in the dry ground when the plant 
is first pulled up, extending like hundreds of fine cobweb 
threads into the adhering earth. The importance of these 
organs cannot be over-estimated ; if they become dry the 
plant dies. Why do transplanted trees so often fail to 
grow ? 



RYE. 169 

c. The stem. Notice the short white subterranean 
part, the straight ascending stalks, each simple, erect, 
terete (round), smooth, hollow, jointed. Such a stem is 
called a culm. Is it hollow throughout ? Smooth ? 

1. Observe the distinct nodes, long internodes, shorter 

below. Make a vertical section through a node, 
so as to include part of the internode above and 
below, and draw, enlarged about three times, so 
as to show the structure. In younger stems find 
traces of pith. Compare the cornstalk. 

2. With the lens notice the stripes on the surface of 

the culm. Cut a smooth section just above one 
of the lower nodes, and on the section find the 
ends of the fibro-vascular bundles. The bun- 
dles are closed, though here arranged in a ring 
(Lesson VII.). We may consider the case 
like that of the cornstalk with the central 
bundles undeveloped. Is there any relation as 
regards position between the bundles and the 
surface stripes? Sketch a cross-section enlarged, 
and mark the place of the bundles. 

d. The foliage. 

Note the leaves ; their form, arrangement, attach- 
ment. Observe that the petiole takes the form of a 
sheath, and contributes so far to make strong the stem 
against the onset of the wind. (Compare Lesson V.) 
The split in the sheath ; does it extend all the way 
down ? At the point where the blade meets the stem, 
find the ligule, a thin, papery structure, the upward ex- 



170 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

tension of the sheath ; observe its shape, margin ; prob- 
ably takes the place of stipules. 

Study the blade of the leaf ; its edges, surface, vena- 
tion. The veins are white ; the green stripes are the 
chlorophyl-bearing part, the mesophyl. Note the form 
assumed by the leaf in drying. 



LESSON XLV. 
Rye. — Continued. — Flower axd Feuit. 

SEC ALE CERE ALE LIXX. 

Materials required: The same parts of the plant as 
before ; boxes of various grains, Rye, Wheat, Oats, 
Corn, etc. ; a few grains of each sort softened by soak- 
ing a short time in water. 

I. The Inflorescence. 

Examine the fresh spikes of Eye, and note : — 

a. The general form of the entire inflorescence, flat- 
tened-spicate ; the axis, here called the rhachis, the 
culm continued through the spike. Strip the rhachis 
for a short distance below, and note its shape, " zigzag, 
jointed." 

b. The primary divisions. Bend the spike against 
its longer diameter; the whole inflorescence separates 
into similar divisions, the spikelets. Isolate a single 
spikelet, and observe its position ; sessile at one of the 
joints of the rhachis, alternate with others above, below. 
Compare the leaf arrangement. 



RYE. 171 

At the base of each spikelet find a pair of small, 
slender bractlets, one on each side, to right and left, 
the glumes. The spikelet is the unit of inflorescence 
of the Rye ; the unit of inflorescence in all grasses, of 
which the Eye is here taken as type. Whatever the 
general form of the inflorescence, the glumes (generally 
two, sometimes only one) limit for us the spikelet, and 
determine its identity. Examine one of the glumes 
carefully ; note its parallel veins, their number ; draw 
enlarged. 

c. The flotuers. 

1. Between the glumes 1 find three flowers ; two 
large, conspicuous, the third a minute rudiment 
between the other two, and likely to be over- 
looked. Each flower consisting of stamens and 
pistil is enclosed again by bracts, two of them ; 
the outer, larger one here is called the " flow- 
ering glume ; " the inner, the palet. 2 

Study the flowering glume ; note its sharply 
serrulate, somewhat infolded margin. Is the 
margin alike on both sides ? Note the veins, 
their number ; the apex, continued into a long, 
rough awn. Draw. 

Compare in all particulars the palet. Note 
especially its delicacy, its infolded margin. 
Draw. 

1 Sometimes designated " empty glumes," "because there is noth- 
ing in their axils. 

2 Sometimes called "outer" and " inner" palets; i.e., glumes 
enclose the spikelet, palets the flower : this is the usage of systematic 
works. 



172 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

2. Study the stamens. Observe their number ; the 

thread-like filament ; the large anther, its lobes 
and dry, powdery pollen. Compare the stamen 
in bud and bloom. In what does " blooming " 
consist ? Sketch a stamen enlarged. 

3. Study the pistil ; note its parts, — the sessile, silky 

ovary, the branching style, and plumose stig- 
mas, exquisitely delicate. Draw as they ap- 
pear under the lens. 

4. At the base of the ovary notice the small white 

papery scales, lodicules, organs which perhaps 
stand for petals or sepals in this simple flower. 

II. The Fruit. 

a. The dry grains. Compare Oats, Corn, Wheat, and 
Rye. In what does the Oat differ from the rest ? Strip 
off the chaff (flowering glume and palet), and then com- 
pare. In the Rye-grain find the longitudinal groove, and 
a scar or depression on the opposite side, at the base. 
Find the same features in the other grains. 

b. Take grains that have lain for some time in water ; 
from the Rye-grain strip off the covering, the consoli- 
dated wall of the ovary and seed-coats, and at the place 
marked by the "scar" expose the new plantlet, the em- 
bryo. It is small, but can be well seen, plumule up- 
ward, radicle downward, toward the base of the grain. 
The parts are larger in a grain of Corn, and we may ac- 
cordingly transfer our investigations to that grain. 

c. From the grain of Corn strip off the covering as 
before ; the embryo lies plain and white against the sur- 



RYE. 173 

rounding mass of the grain, the so-called albumen. 1 
Draw the face of the grain enlarged about twice. 

Lift out the embryo, and from the upper end, pro- 
ceeding downwards, make a series of sections, and so 
ascertain the place and form of the single cotyledon. 
The embryo proper lies ensheathed in the largest, outer- 
most leaf, the cotyledon. 2 This, in turn, lies against the 
albumen, is an absorptive organ, and never becomes func- 
tional as a green leaf. 

d. With the point of a penknife or scalpel dissect 
away the cotyledon, and disclose the remaining parts of 
the embryo. 

e. With a sharp razor make a vertical section 
through the embryo as it lies in the grain, and find : — 

1. The plumule, made up of several leaflets, one 

wrapped within the other. 

2. The radicle, extending downwards, and forming 

the end of the embryo opposite the plumule. 
Clothing the tip of the radicle, the root-sheath 
can be plainly seen. This is broken through 
on germination. Underneath this, and capping 
the tip only of the radicle, is the root-cap. 
When the radicle grows, the root-cap protects 
its advancing tip as it pushes through the 
ground. The root grows at the tip, and the 
root-cap is renewed from the inside, while its 
outer layers wear away. 

1 See Gray's " Structural Botany," pp. 25, 26. 

2 Called also the scutellum. 



174 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

3. The caulicle. This is the. embryo-stem, and in- 
cludes the short structure lying between plu- 
mule and radicle. In favorable sections, from 
the caulicle secondary roots can be seen emer- 
ging as small, rounded swellings. 
f. Draw a vertical section of the entire grain of Corn, 
to show all the structures observed. 



LESSON XLVL 
The Ground Ivy and the Mints. 

Materials required : Fresh specimens of Ground Ivy 
{Nepeta glechoma Benth.) in flower and fruit. Similar 
specimens of American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma), Skull- 
cap (Scutellaria), Motherwort (Leonurus), and any other 
Mint obtainable. 

A. The Ground Ivy. 

Study the Ground Ivy. Examine : — 

I. The Plant. 

What is its duration ? Note its general appearance 
and habit of growth. Also the odor of the herbage. 

Examine the parts in detail : — 

a. The root. Note the kind, form, color, etc., of 
the roots. Notice the development of roots along the 
stem. From what points do they arise ? 

b. The stem. Note the texture, direction of growth, 
length, structure, color, surface, and particularly the 
form of cross-section of the stem. 



THE GROUND IVY AND THE MINTS. 175 

c. The leaves. Determine the kind of leaf. Note 
also the venation, form (general outline, base, and 
apex), margin, surface, texture, and the parts of the 
leaf. 

Examine the lower surface of the leaf with a lens, 
and observe the scattered dots or glands. These se- 
crete the volatile oil which gives the plant its charac- 
teristic odor. 

Are these glands found on the upper surface ? On 
the petioles and stem ? 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. Study the arrangement of the flowers. What is 
the order of inflorescence ? Do the flowers form clus- 
ters ? Note the length of the pedicels. 

b. The individual flower. 

Is the flower complete ? Regular ? Symmetrical ? 
Examine the parts : — 

1. The calyx. Note its form, color, and surface. 

Also the number of vertical ribs or nerves. 
Observe the number, form, surface, etc., of the 
lobes. Are they equal ? 

2. The corolla. Note the form, length (as com- 

pared with calyx), color, and surface of the 
corolla. Also the number, form, and size of 
the lobes, and their arrangement. Compare 
the length of the tube and lobes. 

3. The androecium. Observe the number and inser- 

tion of the stamens, and their length as com- 
pared with the corolla. 



176 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Are the stamens equal in length, and equally 
inserted ? Notice that they are in pairs. 
Compare these pairs as to length and position. 

Describe a single stamen, noting the length, 
surface, and color of the filament ; the size, 
color, number of cells, and dehiscence of the 
anthers ; the color and abundance of the pollen. 

4. The gyncecium. 

i. Is the pistil simple or compound ? Note the 
division, number of cells, and number of 
ovules in each cell of the ovary. Also its 
position with reference to the calyx. Ob- 
serve the size, form, number, surface, color, 
etc., of the divisions of the pistil. 
ii. Study the fruit. How many distinct nutlets 
are produced by each flower ? Note the 
form, size, color, and surface of the nutlets. 

5. The torus. Note the presence of a fleshy disk. 

Observe its color, size, form, etc. 

III. Describe the whole plant, and make drawings 
of characteristic parts. 

IV. Pollination. 

a. Examine a fresh flower again. How is fertiliza- 
tion accomplished ? Study in detail the adaptation of 
form, color, odor, and surface of the flower, and the 
relative position of the essential organs to cross-fertili- 
zation. Note particularly the distribution and arrange- 
ment of colors, and the zycjomovphism of the flower. 

Examine the base of the tube of the corolla. What 
is the significance of the swollen portion ? 



THE GROUND IVY AND THE MINTS. 177 

b. Observe the plant in the field. Do insects visit 
it ? If so, what kinds, and how do they enter ? 

c. Make a drawing of the longitudinal section of the 
flower, showing the position of the several parts, and 
one of a front or face view of the flower. 

Discuss all the adaptations to pollination in detail. 

V. Habitat and Distribution. 

a. Note the kind of locality, or habitat, which this 
species affects. Record also the date of flowering and 
fruiting. 

b. The species was introduced into this country from 
Europe. It is now generally distributed throughout the 
Eastern United States, extending westward to Nebraska. 

B. Related Species. 

I. Make a comparison of the species listed at the 
head of this lesson, or others, noting particularly the fol- 
lowing characters : — 

a. The plant : its aromatic odor. 

b. The stem : its texture, and form of cross-section. 

c. The leaves : their position on the stem ; the sur- 
face, and parts. 

d. The ealyx : its form and position, division, and 
duration. 

e. The corolla : its form, division, and number and 
arrangement of lobes. 

f. The stamens : their number, position, and arrange- 
ment. 



178 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

g. The pistil: number of cells and division of the 
ovary, and number of ovules in each cell ; kind of fruit ; 
number and division of styles. 

II. Classification. 

Observe that all the forms studied agree in the fol- 
lowing characters : — 

They are mostly aromatic herbs with four-angled 
stems ; opposite, glandular, ex-stipulate leaves ; mono- 
sepalous, tubular, inferior, persistent calyx ; monopetal- 
ous, labiate corolla, its upper lip two-lobed or entire, its 
lower lip three-lobed ; didynamous or diandrous epipeta- 
lous stamens ; a deeply four-lobed ovary, which in fruit 
forms four distinct one-seeded nutlets ; and a single 
style, two-lobed at apex. 

Plants possessing these characters form the 

Order LABIATE. 

The Mint Order. 

The plants of this order will be found to differ from 
each other principally in the number and relative length 
of the stamens ; in the lobes of the corolla ; and in the 
number of lobes, length, form, and number of nerves of 
the calyx. 

Upon these characters especially is based the subdi- 
vision of the order into tribes and genera. The Ground 
Ivy belongs to the genus Nepeta, and its name is Nepeta 
glechoma Bentham. Of the remaining species listed, the 
Skullcaps belong to the genus Scutellaria ; the Ameri- 
can Pennyroyal to the genus Hedeoma ; and the Mother- 
wort to the genus Leonurus, 



THE GROUND IVY AND THE 3IINTS. 179 

III. Distribution and Economic Value.. 

The Mint Family contains about two thousand five 
hundred species, distributed principally in temperate and 
warm regions. About two hundred species are natives 
of North America. 

A number of species yield valuable essential oils. 
The best known are : Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), 
Lavender (Lavandula vera), and Pennyroyal (Hedeoma 
pulegioides Pers.). 

Many other species are used as domestic remedies, 
the most common being the following : Hyssop (Hysso- 
pus officinalis L.) 7 Balm (Melissa officinalis L.), Catnip 
(Nepeta cat aria L.), and others. 

The American Pennyroyal (Hedeoma, pulegioides 
Pers.) and White Hoar hound (Marrubium vulgare L.) 
are still recognized as officinal. 

Among common garden forms may be mentioned 
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), Thyme (Thymus 
vulgaris), Garden Sage (Salvia officinalis), Sweet Mar- 
joram (Origanum marjorana), and Sweet Basil (Ocimum 
basilicum L.). 

Several tropical species belonging to the genera Sal- 
via, Coleus, and Perilla are cultivated for ornament. 



180 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON XL VI I. 

The Blue Grass. 
POA PRATENSIS LINN. 



Materials required: Plants of Blue Grass in full 
bloom. If convenient, let the class study the plant in 
the open field. The flowers are best expanded and in 
best condition for study on sunny mornings. The parts 
of the flower are very small, but in favorable light can 
be easily seen under the Coddington. 

I. Study all the characteristics of stems, leaves, 
roots, as in the case of Eye, and record what you ob- 
serve. Notice that the stooling is much more prolific in 
the Blue Grass, and that the branches push often for 
considerable distances below the surface of the ground, 
and so form a sod. Very few grasses form such a com- 
plete covering for the soil. Most grasses, especially in 
the warmer parts of the world, grow in isolated tufts, 
like the Rye. 

II. The Inflorescence. 

a. Note the graceful form, an open panicle made up 
of alternate clusters of branches. Observe the number 
of branches at a node, and make a simple sketch to show 
their arrangement. 

b. The spikelet, sessile on the ultimate divisions of 
the branches, each with its well-developed but unequal 
glumes. How many flowers in a spikelet? the upper, 
central, usually undeveloped. 



THE BLUE GRASS. 181 

c. With a needle push back the empty glume, and 
stud}' the flowering glume from without. In sunny 
weather, nearly all details can be made out without dis- 
section, the flowers being widely open. Notice the blue 
color and its display. 

Break up the spikelet, and notice the mass of cob- 
web-like hairs at the base of the flowering glumes. 

d. Draw a spikelet enlarged, to show as many details 
as possible. 

III. Fertilization. 

How are the flowers fertilized ? and what are the 
special provisions for the agency employed ? 

IV. Economic Value. 

What is the principal value of Blue Grass in this 
country ? Is its value great ? In what other ways is 
it valuable ? 

V. Distribution. 

A native of northern Europe, it is now found in 
all the cooler parts of the United States and Canada. 
At first imported and sown for pasturage, it is now 
everywhere indigenous, rapidly displacing the original 
vegetation, occupying meadows, woodlands, prairies, 
roadsides, especially where the soil has been disturbed 
by cultivation. 

In a similar way study any of the following as they 
come to bloom : — 

Orchard Grass, Dactylis glomerata L. 
Wild Barley, Hordeum jubatum L. 
Oats, Avena sativa L. 



182 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Timothy Grass, Phleum pratense L. 
Sand-bur, Cenchrus tribidoides L. 

Later on the pupil should study for himself some 
species of Panic Grass — as Panicum sanguinale L., and 
especially Indian Corn, which is not only a beautiful 
grass, but is wonderfully interesting, and worthy of 
study in every way. 

All grasses are members of a single natural order, 
the 

GRAMINE/E. 

Of this order the leading definitive characters may 
be gathered from any of the types we have studied. 
Thus : — 

«, \ in structure, endogenous ; 

(in form, culms. 

!in form, linear, 
with petioles sheathing; 
ligule-bearing. 



Ovary 



simple ; styles two ; 

in fruit, a grain, caryopsis. 



Of the importance of the order too much cannot be 
said. Here belong the principal food-producing plants 
of the world. Thus : — 

Secede cereale L., Ry e - 

Triticum vidgare L., Wheat. 

Avena sativa L., Oats. 

Zea mays L., Corn. 

Oryza sativa L., Rice. 

Hordeum vidgare L., Barley. 
Saccharum officinarum L., Sugar-cane. 



A LESSON ON FERNS. 183 

Sorghum vidgare gives us in one variety the Sorghum 
or Sugar-cane of the Northern States, and in another, 
Broom-corn. 

Timothy, Orchard Grass, and Blue Grass furnish food 
for our cattle. On the other hand, some of the grasses 
are very troublesome weeds. Thus : — 
Setaria glauca Beauv. 
Setaria viridis Beauv. 

are common Foxtails ; some of the Panic Grasses, and in 
sandy ground the Sand-burs, are no less troublesome. 

But for a thorough investigation of grasses, as well 
as of other flowering plants, and their identification, a 
Manual is necessary. Several works of this kind are at 
hand, and to these for his increase in knowledge the 
student is henceforth referred. 



LESSON XLVIII. 
A Lesson on Ferns. 

OSUMUNDA CLAY TON IAN A LINN. 

Materials required: 1. Let the pupils, where prac- 
ticable, visit the woods in May or early June, according 
to the locality and the season, and find of as many Ferns 
as possible the budding, unrolling fronds. The spe- 
cies named will be most conspicuous, and probably most 
common. A few tufts, rootstock and all, should be taken 
to the classroom. 

2. Herbarium specimens of 0. claytoniana in fruit. 



184 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Fresh specimens from the woods can be had a week or 
two after the fronds appear. 

I. The Vernation. 

Stndy the rising but still rolled-np fronds of Os- 
mund a, and note : — 

a. The brown tomentum, wool, with which the young 
fronds are abundantly clothed. What function is sug- 
gested ? (cf. Lesson IX. V.). If the budding fronds 
of other species are at hand, compare. 

b. The habit of the fronds, their vernation, rolled or 
circinate. Unroll one of the fronds. The process can 
be continued but a little way because of the immaturity 
of the parts rolled up. By watching, however, the pro- 
cedure in the field, we shall discover that the same con- 
dition of affairs is always present until the frond reaches 
at last complete expansion ; i.e., the frond unrolls as it 
grows, grows in its outer, distal part long after the prox- 
imal portion is mature. This is one of the peculiarities 
of Ferns and their allies. Plants of this kind were for- 
merly denominated Acrogens, tip-growers. 1 

II. The Frond or Leaf. Study first a sterile 
frond. 

a. Compare its form with that of some pinnate leaf, 
as of Pedicularis. Note the several divisions. The 
same terms are applicable in description as in describing 
any leaf. However, the petiole is usually called the 
stipe, and its continuation through the leaf the rhachis. 
Note the directions assumed by the pinnae in different 
regions of the frond, their unequal size. 

1 See Gray's "Structural Botany," p. 344. 



A LESSON ON FERNS. 185 

b. The venation. With a lens study the venation in 
one of the pinnules. Note its peculiar forked character. 
Compare other pinnules. Is any other type of venation 
to be found ? Draw, twice natural size, a single pinnule, 
to show the veining. How many veins on each side the 
mid-vein ? Is the number constant ? 

III. The Fruit, The Fertile Frond. Note : — 

a. The absence of flowers. This Osmunda is called 
the " Flowering Fern;" but the pupil will readily see 
that of ordinary flowers there are none. 

b. The fruit. Observe that certain pinnae are dif- 
ferent from the others, and that these when shaken 
release quantities of green powdery cells. Under the 
microscope these are seen to be simply green chlorophyl- 
bearing cells, like the cells of a leaf ; but the cells are 
all free, like the pollen-grains. These free cells are the 
spores of the Fern. Each cell is capable of independent 
growth. As it grows it produces, not the fern directly, 
but a tiny, simple leaf-like structure, the prothallus, on 
which appear special cells of two sorts ; cells like the 
oosphere in the Trillium flower (See Fig. 9, B, 3.), 
and cells which are in function like the pollen-grains. 
When the oosphere is fertilized, it grows to a fern, and 
bears spores again. So we see that although the fern 
has no flowers, in our common sense of the word, it 
has yet, in one of its phases, a fertilization. 

c. Because the spores produce the fern indirectly, 
that is, by the intervention of a prothallus to bear the 
organs of fertilization, the fern is said to exhibit an 
" alternation of generations," or to present two phases : 



186 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

the first generation or phase proceeding directly from 
the spore, the prothallus, since it bears the oosphere is 
called the oophytic phase ; the second, resulting from the 
fertilized oosphere, the spore-bearing frond, is the sporo- 
pliytic phase. Which phase have we in hand ? 
d. The spore-cases, sporangia. 

1. Study the fruiting pinnae ; what evidence have we 

that they are modifications of ordinary pinnae 
and their divisions ? 

2. Examine with a lens a single sporangium. Notice 

the stalk ; the fissure opposite by which the 
spores have, perchance, nearly all escaped ; a 
crown of small bright cells at the top of the 
spore-case, the annulus, here not well developed. 
The annulus is somewhat hygroscopic ; in dry- 
ing, it induces such tension as causes the spor- 
angium to split. 

3. Draw a single sporangium, enlarged sufficiently to 

enable you to sketch conveniently all details 
that can be made out. 



LESSON XLIX. 
Ferns. — Continued. 

Materials required : 1. Herbarium specimens in suf- 
ficient quantity, illustrating all the more easily managed 
local species, as : — 



A LESSON ON FERNS. 187 

Adiantum pedatum Linn. 
Asplenium filix-fcemina Bernh. 
Pteris aquilina Linn. 
CystoiAeris uulbifera Bernh. 
Aspidium acrostichoides Swz. 1 

2. Fresh or dry stems of Osmunda claytoniana L. ; 
fresh or alcoholic specimens of the rootstocks of Pteris 
aquilina L. 2 

I. Asplenium filix-foemina Bernh. 

a. Study the sterile frond of the fern, noting its 
form, divisions ; the venation, either simple or furcate, 
as in Osmunda. Observe the veins that follow the sec- 
ondary rhachis along each side. On the fertile frond — 

b. The fruit. On which side of the frond is it 
borne ; i.e., upper or lower ? Differs entirely from the 
fruit of Osmunda. Distributed in minute clusters, the 
fruit-dots, sori. Each fruit-dot is called a sorus. Study 
the sorus with the lens ; notice the delicate cover — the 
indusium (pi. indusia^) : peering out from the indusium 
edge are the brown sporangia. These are so small as to 
require a microscope for satisfactory study. A few may 
be mounted in water, and examined with a f objective. 
iSTote the stalk ; the annulus, here very important ; the 
spores. 

c. Note the position of the sorus, borne on the vein- 

1 In the study of these species, refer to Gray's Manual, or to Un- 
derwood's " Our Native Ferns and Their Allies," a most convenient 
little book. 

2 As heretofore, wherever practicable, pupils should be urged to 
bring in the necessary material. 



188 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

let oblique to the mid-vein of the pinnule, the indusium 
opening outwardly. Draw a pinnule with fruit, en- 
larged. 

II. Compare fruiting fronds of other species, as Adl- 
antum joedatum. Note : — 

a. The venation in the pinnules ; still a modification 
of the furcate or dichotomous veining. Draw a pinnule 
enlarged to show venation. 

b. The fruit ; note its position at the frond margin. 
Examine with a lens, each sorus covered not by an indu- 
sium in this case, but by the turned edge of the pinnule, 
an involucre. If the fruit be sufficiently mature the in- 
volucre may? by assistance of a needle, be turned back, 
showing the sporangia attached to the involucre. Draw 
a pinnule to show the fruit. 

III. Compare in the same fashion fruiting fronds of 
Pteris aquilina, or other species that may be at hand. 
Use any convenient Manual, Gray or Underwood, to 
determine the species of all Ferns compared. 

IV. Stems of Ferns. Note : — 

a. The stems of our native ferns are all subterranean ; 
they are rootstocks, and differ greatly from each other. 
Compare the rootstock of Osmunda with that of Pteris. 
Wherein do they differ ? In habit of growth ? In con- 
sequent structure ? Notice that Ferns are perennial ; 
that they make progress through the earth from year to 
year. 

b. Study the structure of the stem of Pteris more 
closely. Make a smooth section across it, and examine 



A LESSON ON FERNS. 189 

with your lens. Notice the hard, brown, outer layer, 
the cortex ; the porous strands near the centre, the flbro- 
vascular bundles ; dissect out some of these. Notice the 
bands of hard, strengthening tissue that run in the same 
direction ; the white parenchyma surrounding all. To 
the last-named tissue apply the iodine test. What does 
it show ? 

c. Compare the fern-stem section with the cornstalk 
section, the section of the Maple twig. Which does the 
fern-section more nearly resemble ? Of the fern-section, 
sketch a diagram about three times natural size. Make 
end sections of the stipes of the various fern-fronds, and 
compare. 

V. Fern-allies. 

a. Compare Ferns and flowering-plants. State all 
the particulars in which you find them to agree. In 
what particulars do they differ ? 

b. Closely related to the Ferns, and sometimes called 
Fern-allies, are the Scouring-rushes and Club-mosses. 
These, too, have fibro-vascular bundles like those of the 
flowering-plants ; but, like the Ferns, they are reproduced 
in a roundabout way by spores. The spores in Scour- 
ing-rushes and Club-mosses are produced in spikes at 
the tops of aerial stems or branches, not on the backs 
of the leaves, as in true Ferns. 

c. Compare herbarium specimens of Club-mosses and 
Scouring-rushes. 



190 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON L. 
A Lesson on Mosses. 

ATRICHUM UNDULATUM BEAUV. 

Materials required: A basketful of the moss fresli 
from the field. If not in fruit, herbarium material must 
be on hand sufficient to illustrate the spore-production. 1 
During examination of specimens every precaution 
should be taken to keep the material fresh. 

I. The Plant. 

Note the cespitose tufted habit ; isolate a single 
plant, and observe : — 

a. The leafy, erect, unbranching stem, probably sup- 
porting at the summit the long-stalked fruit. Are the 
plants connected below ? 

b. The leaves, abundant, decurrent, differing in form 
and color on different parts of the stem. Under the lens 
the lowest leaves are found short, scale-like ; those at 
the base of the fruit-stalk long and slender. Notice the 
arrangement on the stem. 

e. Roots ? Koot-hairs or rhizoids ? Wash the lower 
end of the stem in clear water, and examine with the 
lens. True roots are lacking; but rhizoids are abundant, 
forming a brown felt around the lower part of the stem. 

1 This species is common everywhere, on shady clay-banks with 
a north exposure, in the woods, in damp ravines. It can always be 
found fruiting in the fall, sometimes as early as June. 



A LESSON ON MOSSES. 191 

II. The Leaf. 

Examine a perfectly fresh plant, using the Codding- 
ton in good light, and note all discoverable particulars 
concerning the leaf : — 

a. The general form, color, attachment to the stem. 

b. The margin, denticulate, furnished with minute 
teeth, especially towards the tip ; find rows of similar 
teeth across the back of the leaf. Observe, also, that the 
margin is wavy. Do the undulations of the leaf and 
the lines of dorsal teeth correspond ? 

c. The apex ; terminates in one or more sharp points. 

d. The "mid-rib." Under the lens it may be seen 
that the apparent mid-rib is due to the presence, on the 
upper surface of the leaf, of several narrow, ribbon-like 
vertical green plates, lamellce. Such lamellae are rare, 
though on some moss-leaves even more abundant than 
here. Draw a diagram illustrating the relation of these 
lamellae to the leaf. The lamellae serve at once the place 
of a mid-rib, to stiffen the little leaves, and to increase 
their area. 

III. The Fruit. 

Select fruit-bearing stems, and note the long-stalked 
capsules which they carry. How many capsules on one 
stem ? 

a. If fruiting plants be heated for a minute or two in 
a solution of potash, and then washed in water, the fruit- 
stalk, the seta, may be easily pulled out of the tip of the 
leafy stem, and will show a sharp-pointed base where it 
was attached. 



192 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

b. Notice now the little pod, or capsule, carried by the 
stalk ; its form, symmetry, color, surface. At its sum- 
mit perching — 

c. The calyptra; a delicate-pointed hood, split down 
one side. With forceps lift off the calyptra, and find : — 

cL The operculum, or lid of the capsule. Notice the 
long, curving, slightly eccentric beak, the rostrum* Draw 
the operculum enlarged. 

e. In a mature specimen the operculum may be easi- 
ly lifted from its place, opening the capsule, and expos- 
ing — 

/. The peristome , a row of delicate teeth around the 
mouth of the capsule. Notice their form, color, number. 
The teeth of the peristome in Mosses is always some 
multiple of four, as 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. If the teeth stand 
up clearly, draw three or four together, to show their 
form. 

g. Holding the capsule between thumb and finger, 
with a sharp razor split it through the middle, opercu- 
lum and all, and study with a Coddington the smooth 
section so formed. Find the columella, a slender axis 
passing up the centre ; the dark-green powdery spores in 
mass around the columella, between it and the wall of 
the capsule. These spores reproduce the Moss ; hence it 
is we call the capsule fruit. Draw the section as it ap- 
pears under the lens. 

IV. Eeproduction of Mosses. 

a. The spore of the Moss on germination produces 
first a long green filament, which branches freely, and 
ultimately gives rise to tiny buds, which slowly unfold, 



A LESSOX OX MOSSES. 193 

and take the form of the leafy plant. On these leafy 
stems, at their summits in the Moss before us, on the 
sides in many species, appear organs of fertilization. 
The examination of these transcends our present pur- 
pose ; but they consist of structures bearing, respec- 
tively, oospheres and fertilizing-cells as before. The 
fertilized oosphere gives rise to the stalked capsule we 
have seen ; and as it grows, its seta becomes attached to 
the top (or side) of the leafy stem (inserted), whence, as 
we have seen, it may easily be pulled out. 1 

b. The Moss thus, like the Fern, exhibits in its life- 
history two distinct phases. It returns twice to the con- 
dition of a single cell. The spore starts the leafy phase, 
and the oosphere starts the capsule, which bears the 
spore again. As in the Fern, these phases are denomi- 
nated oophytic and sporophytic, respectively, according 
to the nature of the spore-cell which each produces. 

c. Draw a sketch of a Moss-plant entire in fruit; by 
means of a horizontal line across the drawing indicate 
the point where ends the oophytic and begins the sporo- 
phytic phase. 

1 For more complete description, consult the larger text-books, 
Bessey's "Botany," Goebel's " Outlinesof Classification," etc. 



194 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 



LESSON LI. 
Some Relatives of the Mosses. 

THE LIVERWORTS.^ 

Materials required : Fresh or alcoholic materials of 
any of the larger Liverworts, especially species of Mar- 
chantia, Co?iocephaltts, Lunularia. Fresh materials are 
always to be preferred, but alcoholic will do. 

I. General Description. 

Examine specimens of Marchantia, and note : — 

a. The flattened, leaf-like stem; its apparent mid-rib, 
dichotomous branching. If the material is fresh observe 
the color, above, below. On the lower, ventral, surface 
find the rhizoids by which the thalloid stem is attached 
to the substratum ; these float out beautifully in water. 
On the upper, dorsal, surface find a number of intersect- 
ing grooves, marking off the areolation ; in Conocephalus 
the areolation is manifest to the naked eye. In the cen- 
tre of each areole, find a minute opening, the stoma. 

1 The Liverworts called for here are flat, ribbon-like, green little 
plants found commonly creeping over moist, cool rocks or soil in shady 
places. Conocephalus conicus is the largest species, and is common 
in wooded districts. It bears fruit in March or April. Marchantia 
polymorpha is found in similar places, but is common in greenhouses 
also, and may be found fruiting from June to August. Lunularia 
cruciata occurs in this country in greenhouses only, where it may be 
recognized by its pale-green color and crescent-shaped cupules. For 
description of species, see Gray's Manual ; for more thorough study 
cf. "Plant Dissection," Arthur Barnes and Coulter, p. 58, 



SOME RELATIVES OF THE MOSSES. 195 

These stomata are unusually large and well formed. 
They can easily be seen on Marchantia, but on Cono- 
cephalus better, are even visible to the unaided eye. 
What, then, is the function of this flat stem of the Liv- 
erwort ? Where do we find stomata in higher plants ? 
(See Lessox XL IY.) 

b. Examine with the lens the lower surface of the 
stem. Find along the middle, like slender brown la- 
mellae, the leaves divergent toward the anterior end of 
the stem. Their presence lends the frond its only 
" mid-rib." 

c. Draw the stem in outline, as seen from above. 
Draw a small part enlarged, as it appears under the lens, 
to show the areolation and stomata. 

II. The Reproduction of Liverworts. 

A. By Buds or Gemmae. 

a. On specimens of Lunularia and Marehantia find 
on the dorsal surface of the stems conspicuous shallow 
cups, in which lie loosely small green bodies visible to 
the naked eye. The cups are called cupules ; their con- 
tents, gemmce. In Lunularia the cup is developed on 
one side only, is crescentiform. (Cf. the name Lunu- 
laria,.) In Marehantia the cupules are beautifully sym- 
metrical, with ornamental border. Examine with a lens, 
and draw. 

b. The r/emmce are simply buds. A drop of water 
suffices to float them from the cupules. Once they find 
lodgement on suitable soil, each one is capable of devel- 
opment to form again a creeping frond or stem, 



196 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

B. By Spores. 

On some of the Marchantia material find erect 
branches very different from the flat, prostrate forms : — 

a. The antheridial branch, short, bearing aloft a 
crenulate, discoid top. The stalk is called the pedicel ; 
the disk, receptacle, contains minute sacs, in which are 
developed the fertilizing-cells. Make a vertical section 
through the receptacle and stalk in a plane correspond- 
ing to the direction of the supporting flat stem. In the 
section, by aid of the Coddington, you may easily see 
the little sacs in which are formed the fertilizing-cells. 
The latter are demonstrated under a good compound 
microscope only. Draw the section. 

b. The fertile branch, long-stalked, bearing a star- 
shaped or radiate top. Count the rays. Notice that 
two are paired, with a deeper notch between : these are 
the posterior rays ; a single ray extends in front, the 
anterior. Under the rays find the sporangia in various 
stages of development. In fresh mature specimens 
some will surely be found discharging their contents, a 
fluffy, yellow mass consisting of spores and elaters. The 
elaters are delicate, thread-like organs which aid in 
spore dispersal. They do not occur in Mosses. For 
their investigation recourse must be had to a micro- 
scope. The sporangium here, as in the Moss, results 
from the development of a fertilized oosphere. A verti- 
cal section through the fertile head will suffice to show 
sporangia of all ages, surrounded by perichaetial leaves. 
Draw the section. 

c. In the Liverwort, then, the fertilizing-cells are 



THE FUNGI. 197 

produced on one specialized branch of the creeping stem, 
the oosphere, followed by the sporangium, on another. 
The spore gives rise to the thalloid plant, with its 
branches, the oosphere to the sporangium, with its 
spores ; so that the succession of phases is the same as 
before. 



LESSON LI I. 

The Fungi. 

BLACK MOULD, — MUCOR MUCEDO LINN. 

Materials required : 1. Mouldy fruit of various kinds, 
Blackberries, Raspberries. California Grapes when " too 
old " are apt to show beautiful specimens of Black Mould. 
Decaying Sweet-potatoes always show it. 

2. Cultures of Black Mould under bell-jars. 1 

I. General Description. 

a. The hyphce. Study sowings of Black Mould that 
have been made on moist bread, and have been standing 
in a warm, moist place for a day or two. The bread 
will probably be found covered with an abundant white 
fluffy growth, resembling so much wool or cotton. The 
fine white filaments of which the growth consists can be 
distinguished by the naked eye ; can be much better 
seen under the Coddington. These delicate filaments 
constitute the essential elements in the make-up of 
every fungus ; they are called hyphce. A single thread 

1 See Appendix B. 



198 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

is called a hyplia. Under the lenses of a microscope 
these filaments are seen to be very long, straight tubes, 
very rarely septate; i.e., made up of cells very much 
longer in one direction than others. If a microscope be 
at hand, mount some in water, and examine them. 

Note that in the specimens before us the filaments 
are all free ; in many fungi they are variously united to 
form solid structures. This will appear presently. 

b. The fruit. How is the mould reproduced ? 
There are no flowers. Examine some of the older 
cultures. Find hyphal branches that bear minute black 
spheres like tiny pin-heads. Now you may trace the 
spheres through various tints, from white to black. 
These tiny heads are sporangia ; i.e., spore-cases, each 
a transparent sac packed full of black spores. The 
spores are simply free cells, like pollen-grains, only 
much smaller, and having, of course, a different func- 
tion. If practicable, examine the spores in water, under 
a lens of pretty high magnifying power. Pass a piece 
of paper over the black sporangia; a black stain re- 
sults. The stain consists of spores. 

II. The Reproduction of Black Mould. 

a. Take a piece of moist bread again, and with a 
clean needle touch the ripe sporangia, and then apply 
the point of the needle to the bread. Repeat the exper- 
iment several times, so as to make sure that some of the 
spores have been carried over to the bread ; place under 
a bell-jar, and keep in a warm place. In a few days 
may be expected a crop of mould just as before. That 
is, the spores have reproduced the mould. In nature 



THE FUNGI. 199 

the spores are drifted about by the wind. Each spore, 
when it lights upon something that will nourish it, — 
always some organic matter, — grows, produces a hyplia 
that feeds upon the nourishing basis, branches, and 
flourishes vigorously, and produces at length the tufted 
mass that we have seen. What, then, is a spore ? 

b. Study again under the lens the sporangia in their 
various phases, from simple aerial branches, through 
branches whose tips are clavate, on to the small trans- 
parent spheres, then to those that are larger, becoming 
more and more opaque until maturity is reached. The 
sporangium, sac, is simply the terminal cell of an aerial 
branch, in which the abundant spores are formed as free 
cells in much the same way as pollen forms in the 
anther sac. 

III. Eecord all the observations made, and draw en- 
larged the various phases of the fruit. 

IV. The Black Mould possesses, as we have said, the 
characteristics of a true Fungus ; it is made up of sim- 
ple hyphse, and is dependent upon organic matter for its 
food-supply. In these respects the Black Mould is a 
typical Fungus. 

Why is it that such plants are thus dependent ? 
What do they lack which would make them indepen- 
dent ? In this particular how do plants compare with 
animals ? Notice that the fruit, potato, bread, is con- 
sumed by the mould. This is not so apparent by dimi- 
nution in bulk as by chemical change revealed to us 
through our sense of taste. The fruit yields up certain 
compounds whose elements nourish the mould. In 



200 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

canned fruit, for instance, if the process continue a long 
time there is left little but dirty water. 



LESSON LI II. 

The Fungi. — Continued. 

THE AGARICS, TOADSTOOLS, AXD MUSHROOMS. 

Materials required : A basket of fresh Agarics from 
the field. Specimens may usually be found in abun- 
dance after the rains of spring, near decaying stumps 
and logs, in the woods, about manure-heaps, etc. In 
the cities the edible mushroom may be obtained fresh 
from gardeners. Many fungi are hard, durable struc- 
tures, persisting through the year. Of such, gathered 
from logs or stumps, a basketful may be brought in for 
comparisons. 

I. The Agaric. 

a. The spores. Supposing plants of the mushroom 
type to be in hand, cut off the expanded part of one, and 
place it right side up on a sheet of white paper, where 
for an hour or two it may remain undisturbed. On the 
paper presently will be found the spores ; notice their 
color and arrangement or dispersal. Under the micro- 
scope these spores may be shown to be simple cells, just 
as in the Black Mould. 

b. The structure. Note : — 

The parts of an Agaric, the stipe, or stem, supporting 
an umbrella-shaped tdp, the cap, or pileus. The stipe 



THE FUNGI. 201 

may be solid or hollow, or furnished with a pith, stuffed ; 
it may be fibrous or cartilaginous. The pileus bears on 
the under surface the gills, or lamellce ; the surface of 
the lamellae is called the hymenium. It is on the hyme- 
nium that the spores are produced ; and from this, as free 
cells, they fall. The pileus may be at first pressed close 
down against the stipe, like a closed umbrella, or may 
have its margin inrolled against the stipe. In either 
case the margin is often attached to the stipe by some- 
thing like a web, a portion of which may adhere to the 
stipe, and leave, when the pileus expands, a ring around 
it, — the annulus. 

c. Description. 

Write a description of the specimen in hand, describ- 
ing the several parts, their form, surface color. Mention 
the color of the spores, and give the size of the speci- 
men ; height and width when fully expanded. 

d. Make of a good specimen a median, vertical sec- 
tion, and draw natural size in outline, to show all details 
of form and color observable. 

II. Special Agarics. 

The Agarics flourish from May to November. Some 
species occur in spring only; some are very abundant 
only in the fall. The species are difficult of identifica- 
tion, and require special literature. Two species may 
suffice here as examples. 

1. Agaricus sublateritius Schseffer. 

Pileus yellow, the disk reddish-brown, fleshy, convex, 
then expanded, at first silky, then glabrous ; lamellae 
not broad, adnate, yellowish, olive-green, then purple or 



202 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

purplish brown ; stipe equal, sometimes silky or fibril- 
lose, and brown at the base, hollow or stuffed. Height 
two to six inches. Pileus two to five inches. Spores 
purplish. Inedible. 

This is one of our common species. It is more abun- 
dant in fall, but may be found growing in crowded tufts 
around old stumps every month in the year. It is a 
very suitable species for study, although the annulus is 
slight, and the veil reduced to a few cobwebby threads 
hanging to the edge of the pileus. 

2. Agarlcus campestris Linn. 

Pileus white or dusky, fleshy, plano-convex, floccose- 
silky or scurfy, the margin surpassing the lamellae ; 
lamellae free, rounded, at first pink (very delicate), then 
brown, at length almost black, watery; stipe stuffed, 
smooth and white ; annulus not large, about midway on 
the stem. Height two to four inches ; pileus the same. 
Spores purplish black. Edible. 

This is the edible mushroom, the mushroom. It is 
found not uncommon from June to November in rich 
gardens, about manure-heaps, etc. ; in hot-houses at all 
seasons of the year. It may be recognized by the color 
of the gills ; at first, as the pileus expands, pink; then, 
as the veil breaks and disappears, becoming brown; at 
last almost black. 

This is also a very fine species for study, but is not 
so common as many other species. 

III. Other Common Fungi. 

a. Pupils are apt to bring in many of the more per- 
sistent Fungi. Of these perhaps the most common will 



THE FUNGI. 203 

be species of the genus Polyporus, Polypores,. Bracket- 
fungi, a genus distinguished in that the lower (fruiting) 
surface is made up of pores instead of plates. In these 
pores the spores are developed, and from them fall. 
Make vertical sections, study, draw, and describe as 
before. Some of these plants have hard tissues, but 
nothing like fibro-vascular tissues. - 

b. Coprini. All agaricine plants are very putresci- 
ble ; some are specially transient. These spring up in a 
night, and perish by mid-day. They have black spores, 
and distinguish themselves by dissolving sooner or later 
into an inky fluid. Such belong to the genus Coprimes. 
The larger forms are edible when fresh. 

IV. Parasitic Fungi. 

We have seen that it is characteristic of Fungi to 
live upon organic matter. Those we have been studying 
are no exception. Upon what do the Agarics live ? the 
Polypores ? Can you judge by the localities in which 
they are found ? All such Fungi living upon dead 
organic matter are called saprophytes. 

But all Fungi are not so considerate. There are 
many that prey upon living organisms. Such are called 
parasites. All rusts and blights belong here. Thus the 
" Cedar Apples " are the fruit of a fungus parasitic on 
the Cedar. G-rain-rust makes havoc in our fields of 
wheat and oats, as every farmer knows ; while Lilac- 
blight whitens the leaves of every lilac-bush in all 
the country. 

V. In all these cases, whether the fungus be para- 
sitic or saprophytic, it is distinguished, just as the Black 



204 ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

Mould, by simplicity of structure, no seeds, no leafy 
stems, no vascular tissue, and by lack of chlorophyl and 
the consequent absolute dependence in the matter of 
food-supply. The conspicuous structures we have been 
studying are in reality the fructifications only of the 
several types. For Agarics, and such forms generally, 
the efficient, absorbing, or nutritive part lies unobserved, 
consists of myriads of hyphse permeating in every direc- 
tion the substratum, above which the fructification rises. 
By examining you may find some of these hyphse in the 
locality whence your specimens come. If you have cul- 
tivated Agarics, ask the gardener what he means by 
" spawn." 



LESSON LIV. 
An Outline of the Vegetable Kingdom. 

Materials required : Flowering plants in variety, 
Ferns, Mosses, Fungi ; a vessel containing in watei 
forms of fresh-water Algae, Brook-silk, Ditch-moss, 
Water-net, any species that may be obtainable. 1 

I. The Alg^: : The Thallophytes. 

These are not studied to advantage without the mi- 
croscope and suitable equipment, but with our lenses we 
may nevertheless form some conception of their nature. 

1 Where marine Algae are obtainable they may be used in this 
lesson instead of forms called for. 



OUTLINE OF VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 205 

a. Observe the plants as they float in the water. 
Note their soft, flocculent structure ; their bright color. 

b. Float a little of the material out on pieces of stiff 
white paper, and examine with the Coclclington. In the 
simpler forms the individual threads can be easily dis- 
tinguished ; in others, the filaments are seen to branch 
in various ways ; but in all we are impressed with the 
extreme simplicity displayed in form and make-up. 
Under the microscope the filaments resolve themselves 
into rows of long, green cells. Mount in water, and 
examine with a low power. 

c. Compare the structure of these plants with that 
of the Black Mould. Fruit aside, how do Algae, as we 
see them, and Moulds agree ? In what are they strik- 
ingly different ? Eemember that difference in color has 
respect to difference in habit — a difference which agree- 
ment of structure far outweighs. 

The marine Algae, as far as organization goes, differ 
from these simple fresh-water forms much as the larger 
Fungi differ from the Mould ; it is chiefly a matter of 
form and size, not of structure. 

d. We have before us, then, representatives of two 
great groups of plants, which, with much diversity in 
habit, color, and external particulars, agree substantially 
in their simplicity of structure. They have no real 
leaves or stems, no fibro-vascular tissues : they are sim- 
ply masses of associated similar cells,; and although 
presenting great variety in their methods of spore-pro- 
duction, these plants are yet all of them reproduced by 
simple spores. Fungi and Algce. in the widest sense of 



20G ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 

those terms, make up of the Vegetable Kingdom its first 
great sub-division, the : — 

Sub-Kingdom THALLOPHYTA. 

II. The Bryophytes. 

If, now, with these simple Thallophytes we compare 
Mosses and Liverworts, the advance in structure offered 
by the latter plants is very marked. Mosses are repro- 
duced still by spores, it is true ; but they never fail to 
show the sequence of phases which has been described, 
while leaf and stem attain in many of them perfect dis- 
tinctness, and the stem in particular cases approaches 
the structure of the vascular stems of higher plants. 

Spore-bearing plants which thus differentiate stem 
and leaf, and show an alternation of generations, make 
up the — 

Sub-Kingdom BRYOPHYTA. 

III. Pteridophytes. 

When, now, Ferns and their allies, the Scouring- 
rushes and Club-mosses, are compared with all the 
plants so far considered, their special characteristics 
come out prominently. In what particulars do Ferns 
agree with Liverworts and Mosses ? Wherein lies the 
great structural difference ? Notice that the particulars 
in which the Fern differs from the Bryophyte are those 
in which the Fern most resembles the flowering plants. 

Accordingly, we say that all plants reproduced by 
spores, showing alternation of generations, and possess- 



OUTLINE OF VEGETABLE KINGDOM, 207 

mg, furthermore, fibro-v oscular tissues, go together to 
make the third great section of the Vegetable Kingdom, 
the — 

Sub-Kingdom PTERIDOPHYTA. 

IV. Spermaphytes or Pharerogams. 

In comparison with all the plants in this lesson con- 
sidered, the " flowering plants " seem distinct enough ; 
these plants alone produce seeds. This distinction is 
really somewhat superficial, 1 but it is patent, and is asso- 
ciated with many characteristic structural details ; as, for 
instance, in the matters of venation and vernation, the 
type of the fibro-vascular bundle, etc. But into the 
merits of the discussion we cannot now enter. We con- 
tent ourselves with the statement that all seed-bearing 
plants unite to form the fourth and last grand division 
of the plant world, the — 

Sub-Kingdom SPERMAPHYTA. 

V. Prepare an outline of the Vegetable Kingdom, 
writing in tabular form the names of the several princi- 
pal sub-divisions, and placing opposite each the name of 
some familiar plant which may be regarded as an illus- 
trative type. 

1 See Goebel's "Outlines of Classification," pp. 209-309; and 
Vines's "Text-book of Botany," p. 431. 



APPENDIX A. 



Directions for Collecting and Preserving Materials. 

Inasmuch as it is necessary to collect and prepare 
in advance a large part of the materials called for in 
these lessons, the following brief directions are pre- 
sented, in the hope that they may be of assistance to 
the teacher. 

The materials required may be grouped into four 
classes : — 

I. Alcoholic materials. 

II. Dry materials prepared without the application 
of pressure. 

III. Herbarium specimens dried under pressure. 

IV. Fresh materials. 

The months during which the materials may be col- 
lected to the best advantage are in all cases indicated. 

The lists hereinafter given will, of course, be en- 
larged upon by the live teacher. 

I. Alcoholic Materials. 

The materials which are to be preserved in alcohol 
should be collected, and, while fresh, dropped into 75 
per cent alcohol. 

All underground parts should be thoroughly washed 
in water, and all large specimens cut into pieces of suit- 
able size for study, before being placed in alcohol. 

209 



210 APPENDIX A. 

The jars or bottles in which these specimens are 
preserved must be tightly corked when not in use in 
the class. 

Alcoholic material will be found less brittle and 
easier to handle in the class if placed in water for an 
hour or more before being used. 

In all cases where the pupil is to make a detailed 
study of any species or part a sufficient number of 
specimens should be collected to supply each member 
of the class with at least one. 

These materials may be grouped as follows : — 

a. Steins. 

Pieces of Cornstalk and Pumpkin-vine, — July, August. 

Twigs of Maple, any species, — May. 

Stems of Poison-ivy, with roots, — All the year. 

b. Rootstocks; 

Solomon' s-seal, Polygonatum — sp. 

Trillium, any species. 

Iris, any species. 

May Apple, or Mandrake, Podophyllum peltatum L. 

Bracken Fern, Pteris aquilina L. 

These rootstocks may be collected from May until 
September. 

c. Leaf -buds. 

The unfolding leaf-buds of the following species 
should be collected in April and May : — 

Apple or Crab, any species. 

Common Violet, Viola palmata, var. cucullata Gray. 

Currant, Rlbes rubrum L. 

Fern, any species. 

Ground Ivy, Nepeta glechoma Benth. 

Oak, any species. 

Yellowdock, Rumex, any large species. 



APPENDIX A. 211 

d. Flowers. 

Flowers of Trillium if desired for very early study. 

These should be collected in April of the preceding 

year. 
Double flowers of the Windflower, Anemonella thalic- 

troides Spach; Strawberry; and any other species not 

ordinarily producing double flowers. 
Flowers developing within or from other flowers, if 

obtainable. The Roses and Jessamine occasionally 

produce such flowers. 

e. Fruits. 

Blackberry, any species. 
Gooseberry, any species. 
Strawberry, any species. 
Mulberry, any species. 

The mature fruits should be collected in June and 

July. 

Cherry, any cultivated species. Young specimens in 
which the stone is not yet formed, and specimens 
nearly mature, should be collected. 

f. Liverworts. 

Marchantia polymorpha L. Branches bearing fertile 
and sterile receptacles should be collected in May 
and June. The species occurs on damp, shaded 
banks, in greenhouses, etc. 

Conocephaliis conicus Dumort. Branches bearing the 
short, cone-shaped receptacles should be collected in 
October or November, and those with the fruiting 
receptacles on elongated pedicels in April or early 
May. Branches with sterile receptacles may be col- 
lected in May or early June. The species grows com- 
monly on moist, shaded banks and bases of bluffs. 

II. Dry Materials Prepared Without Pres- 
sure. 
Dry all materials of this kind rapidly, to prevent 



212 APPENDIX A. 

moulding, and store the more perishable kinds in boxes, 
to prevent breakage. Place moth-balls (naphthalin) with 
the specimens, to prevent attacks of insects. 

The materials in this section may be grouped as 
follows : — 

a. Stems. 

Of these one specimen of each will answer for the 
entire class. 

1. Specimens of the following stems need not exceed 
a foot in length. 

Corn, stem. 

Corn, the base of stalk, showing roots. 

Grape, attached to its support by tendrils. 

Virginia Creeper, attached to its support by disks. 

Stems attacked by Dodder. 

Morning-glory twining around a string or stick. 

Elder, Sambucus canadensis L. 

2. Longer specimens of the following are desir- 
able : 

Pumpkin-vine. 
Strawberry runner. 

All the preceding specimens may be collected during 
the summer. 

3. Wood-sections of the following species are desir- 

able : — 

Box Elder. 

Oak, any species. 

Pine, any species. 

Cherry, any species. 

Locust, Robinia pseudacacia L. 

Palm, any species, to be obtained by exchange or 

purchase. 
All trees studied in the lessons as types of orders. 



APPENDIX A. 213 

These may be collected at any season of the year, 
but preferably in the fall or winter, and should be pre- 
pared as follows : — 

Collect stems not less than six inches in diameter, 
and, after seasoning, cut them into uniform pieces six or 
eight inches long, and then cut each piece longitudi- 
nally through the centre, being careful not to injure the 
bark. Plane or polish the cut ends and faces. 

b. Fruits. 

Collect the mature fruits of the species in the fol- 
lowing list in sufficient quantity to supply each mem- 
ber of the class with at least one specimen of each kind. 
The fruits are here grouped according to the months 
during which they should be collected. 

1. June or early July : — 

Maple, Acer, any species. 

Marsh-marigold, Caltha palustris L. 

Pea, any cultivated form. 

Poppy, any cultivated form. 

Lilac, any cultivated form. 

2. September and early October : — 

Burdock, Arctium lappa L. 

Butternut, Juglans cinerea L. 

Corn, Zea mays L. 

Goosefoot, Chenopodium album L. 

Jimson-weed, Datura, either species. 

Milkweed, Asclepias, any species. 

Tick-trefoil, Desmodium, any species. 

Sunflower, cultivated or native forms. 

Rose, cultivated or native forms. 

Balloon-vine, Cardiospermum haliacabum L. 

Thistle, Cnicus, any species. 
Spanish-needles, Bidens, any species. 

Hazel, Corylus, either species. 



214 APPENDIX A. 

Tobacco, any cultivated form. 

Pine, Pinus, any species. (This may also 

be collected later in the year.) 

3. All summer : — 

Purslane, Portulaca oleracea L. 

Black mustard, Brassica nigra Koch. 
Shepherd' s-purse, Cap sella bursa-pastoris Moench. 

c. Seeds. 

Seeds of the bean, pea, and catalpa should also be 
on hand. The last may be collected in September. 

d. Mosses. 

When it is desired to preserve specimens of mosses 
for study they may be dried in mass by exposure to the 
warm air of a room. When they are to be used they 
may be revived by being placed in a moist chamber under 
a bell-glass or other suitable dish or vessel, or simply by 
being watered and covered with a wet cloth. 

Mosses in fruit may be collected in May and June, 
and also in September and October. 

III. Herbarium Specimens Dried Under Pres- 
sure. 

For preparing herbarium specimens, use driers made 
of ordinary carpet paper, cut into sheets twelve by 
eighteen inches. Any other soft, porous paper will 
answer. 

Alternate one, two, or three driers with folders, 
folded sheets of printers' or other light paper (old 
newspapers will answer), in which the plants to be 
dried are placed. 

Subject the whole to a pressure of fifty to one hun- 
dred pounds, which may be conveniently applied by 
placing on the package a board of the same size as 



APPENDIX A. 215 

the driers, on which blocks of wood or stone,. or other 
convenient weights, may be placed. 

Eeplace the driers by other dry ones daily during 
the first four or five days, and after that for a week 
or two at longer intervals, until the specimens are thor- 
oughly dried. After each change, spread the driers out 
to dry. 

Examine the specimens at the first change of driers, 
and straighten out all folded parts, and thereafter sim- 
ply shifty the folders containing the specimens from one 
set of driers to another. 

Two sets of herbarium specimens should be pre- 
pared, one containing the materials required for the 
preliminary or general lessons, the other a complete 
set of local plants, including cultivated ones, for com- 
parison and reference in the subsequent lessons. 

a. Materials for General Lessons. 

Prepare the specimens to be used for this purpose 
by the above described method, and fasten them securely 
by narrow gummed strips to sheets of cardboard or 
other stiff paper, each sheet containing specimens illus- 
trating the variation in one character ; as, for example, 
one sheet of leaves illustrating different kinds of ve- 
nation, another illustrating different kinds of forms, 
another showing margins, etc. 

The specimens may then be marked either with the 
name of the species or by numbers referring to a list. 

Prepare a full set of sheets of this kind for every 
two pupils in the class, as more than two cannot con- 
veniently work with one sheet. 

When not in use these sheets may be kept in boxes 
or packages, with a liberal supply of naphthalin. 



216 



APPENDIX A. 



These specimens may also be left unmounted, and 
kept in packets ; but they are then more likely to be 
broken. 

The materials in this section may be conveniently 
grouped as follows : — 



1. 



2. 



Stems or Branches ivith Leaves. 

These may be collected in May and June : ■ 



Larch, 
Gooseberry, 



Painted-cup, 
Barberry, 

Locust, 

Shepherd' s-purse, 

Peppergrass, 

Smilax, 



Larix, either species. 

any species. Both branches with 

tufted leaves and those with spines 

should be collected. 
Castilleia coccinea Spreng. 
Berberis vulgaris L. Young 

branches. 
Bobinia pseudacacla L. Young 

branches with spines. 
Capsella bursa-p>astorls?sLcench. The 

whole plant. 
Lepldlum mrginicum L. Entire 

young plants, before flowering. 
Myrsvphyllum — sp. (These can be 

obtained at any time in any hot- 
house.) 
Galium, any species. 
Mollugo verticillata L. 



Goose-grass, 
Carpetweed, 

Leaves. 

Do not break off the petiole and stipules when 

these are present. Leaves may be collected 

from May to September. 
Collect and prepare as many of the following 

forms as possible : — 

Apple, Pyrus mains. 

Barberry, Berberis vulgaris L. 

Bellwort, Uvularla, either species. 

Blackberry, Bubus vlllosus Ait. 



APPENDIX A. 



217 



Black Willow, Salix nigra Marsh. 

Burdock, Arctium lappa L. 

Calla, Richardia africana Kunth. 

Canna, Canna, any species. 

Cherry, Primus cerasus L. 

Day Lily, Hemerocallis, either species 

Elm, Ulmus, any species. 

Flowering Fern, Osmunda claytoniana L. 

Golden Currant, Bibes aureum Pursh. 

Ground Ivy, Nepeta glechoma Benth. 

Hawthorn, Crataegus, any species. 

Hazel, Corylus americana Walt. 

Honey Locust, Gleditschia triacanthos L. 

Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens Ait., or sulli- 

vantii Gray. 

Locust, Bobinia pseudacacia L. 

Maple, Acer, any species. 

Morning-glory, Ipomcea purpurea Lam. 

Mullein, Verbascum thapsus L. 

Nasturtium, Tropoeolum majus L. 

Pea, any cultivated form. 

Plantain, Plantago major L. 

Purslane, Portulaca oleracea L. 

Red Clover, Trifolium pratense L 

Red Currant, Bibes rubrum L. 

Rose, any species. 

Rue Anemone, Anemonella thalictroides Spach. 

Smartweed, Polygonum, any species. Collect 

with stem. 

Sunflower, Helianthus, any species. 

Sweet Clover, Melilotus alba Lam. 

Thistle, Cnicus, any species. 

Violet, Viola palmata, var. cucullata Gray. 

White Oak, Quercus alba L. 

3. Flower Clusters. 

For practical purposes the fruit-clusters will auswer 
quite as well. 

Collect the specimeus in the spring or early summer. 



218 APPENDIX A. 

The following will be found useful : — 

Blue Grass, Poa pratensis L. 

Carrot, Daucus earota L. 

Elder, Sambucus canadensis L. 

Grape, Vitis, any species. 

Larkspur, Delphinium, any species. 

Lily-of-the-valley, Convallaria majalis L. 

Mandrake, Podophyllum peltatum L. 

Phlox, any species with flat-toped cluster. 

Plantain, Plantago major L. 

Poplar, Populus, any species. 

Shepherd' s-purse, Capsella bursa-pastorh Moench. 

Young and old flower clusters. 

Wheat, Triticum vulgare. 

White Ash, Fraxinus americana L. 

Wild Sarsaparilla, Aralia nudicaulis L. 

a . Ma t e via Is fo i • a He rbarium. 

A herbarium of local plants should be prepared for 
use in every school. Press the specimens as heretofore, 
using now the entire plant, including root, where practi- 
cable. 

When the roots are thick they should be trimmed 
down, and they should always be washed before being 
placed in press. 

Of large specimens take branches with leaves and 
flowers, and, where practicable, fruits. 

When the specimens are properly pressed they should 
be mounted on sheets of rather stiff white paper by 
strips of gummed paper. 

For this purpose sheets measuring eleven by sixteen 
inches are convenient. 

A label bearing the name, habitat, place, and date of 
collecting, should then be placed in the lower right-hand 
corner. 



APPENDIX A. 219 

The species of one genus, or even order, may then 
be placed together into a sheet of manilla or other 
heavy paper, with the name of the genus or order writ- 
ten on the outside, or they may all be bound together in 
a portfolio. 

When not in use, the specimens should be kept in a 
box or case with naphthalin. 

A herbarium of this kind is valuable for reference, 
and comparison with unclassified material. 

Pupils will find it an interesting task to prepare a 
herbarium for the school. 

IV. Fresh Materials. 

The various fresh materials required, such as twigs, 
leaves, flowers, fruits, roots, leaf -buds, etc., should be 
located and observed beforehand, so that they can be 
collected promptly when needed. 

House-plants will be found very useful here. 

This work may be largely subdivided among the 
pupils. 



APPENDIX B. 



For Lessons VII., IX., X., and XL, in which special 
materials are required, a few general directions may be 
helpful. 

1. As to Seed-sowing. 

Seeds of nearly all sorts germinate sufficiently well 
for our purpose in what is everywhere familiarly called 
a hot-bed, a simple box of moist sand or earth cov- 
ered by glass. The soil should be kept moist, but not 
wet. By baking in the oven once or twice prior to use 
the soil is less liable to be affected with weeds. After 
planting the seeds of whatever varieties in marked rows, 
place the box in the light in some part of the schoolroom 
where it is not likely to be disturbed, and where the 
temperature is pretty constant. The whole matter may 
sometimes be safely intrusted to an intelligent janitor. 
It is, however, essential to let the pupils watch as much 
as possible all the stages of the cultivation. 

Seeds should be sown in materials in different boxes ; 
some in rich soil, some in clean sand as free from soil 
as possible, some in sawdust ; this to illustrate the vari- 
ous modes of germination and the function performed 
by roots (Lesson X.). The supply in all cases should 
be sufficient to furnish a liberal amount of material for 
experiments illustrating the function of green foliage 
(Lesson XL). Seeds should also be planted in different 

220 



APPENDIX B. 



221 



positions, right side up, wrong side up, etc., to- illustrate 
Lesson X. 

For the study of Black Mould (Lesson LIT.) mate- 
rial may always be maintained by placing a little stable- 
manure (fresh) under a bell-jar on a plate containing 
the sufficient water to insure a moist atmosphere. Once 
mould fruits, cultures can be established on moist bread, 
boiled potatoes, or other convenient material. 

The following common seed* germinated and appeared 
above ground in the time specified for each. The sowing 
was in common garden earth. The temperature varied 
from 70° Fahrenheit by day to 50° during the night, all 
the time under glass : — 



Beet . . 
Cucumber 
Field Corn 
Lettuce . 
Oats . 
Onion . 



Hours. 
96 
140 

78 

60 

78 

144 



Squash . . 
Sweet Corn 
Sweet Pea . 
Tomato . . 
Turnip . . 
Watermelon 



Hours. 
168 

78 
102 
120 

48 
124 



The time will vary somewhat with circumstances of 
temperature, depth of planting, etc. From four to ten 
days may be counted upon as necessary in all cases. 

2. Budding Branches. 

After midwinter, branches of various trees will bud 
in the schoolroom at its ordinary temperature (unless too 
low at night, of course) if the branches be smoothly cut 
off, and the cut ends be immersed in clean water. It is 
better, also, to occasionally change the water. Lilac, 
Cherry, and Maple do well to start with. These three 
will come out in full bloom in January. All do better 
if the air about them be not too dry. 



APPENDIX C. 



BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 

1. For Classification and Description. 

Gray's Manual. Sixth Edition. 

Gray's School and Field Book. Latest Edition. 

Wood's Botanist and Florist. 

Apgar's Trees of North America. 

Forest Trees of North America. Report of the Tenth Census of 

the IT. S., vol. ix. 
Underwood, Our Native Ferns and Their Allies, 
Eaton's Ferns of North America. 
Goebel, Outlines of Classification. 
Vines, The Student's Textbook of Botany. 2 vols. 
Lesquereux and James, Mosses of North America. 
Barnes, Keys to Genera and Species of Mosses. 
(Chas, R. Barnes, Madison, Wis.) 

2. For Structure and Function. 

Bessey's Botany. 

Arthur Barnes and Coulter, Plant Dissection. 
Gray's Structural Botany. 
Goodaee's Physiological Botany. 
Lubbock's Flowers, Fruits, and Leaves. 
Mueler's Fertilization of Floicers. 
Darwin, Cross and Self-Fertilization of Plants. 
Darwin, Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants. 
Darwin, Insectivorous Plants. 
Keener, Flowers and Their Unbidden Guests, 

222 



appendix a 223 

3. General Botany. 

Geddes, Chapters in Modern Botany. 

Marshal Ward, The Oak. 

Marshal Ward, Timber, and Some of Its Diseases. 

Keeper's Plant Life. 2 vols. 

4. Journals. 

Botanical Gazette, Madison, Wis. 

Bulletin Torrey Botanical Club, Columbia College, New York. 

Garden and Forest, New York. 

Science, New York. 



APPENDIX D. 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX. 



[The numbers refer to the pages, except where otherwise stated.] 



Acaulescent, 132. 

Accessory buds, 4. 

Achenium, 80. 

Acrogens, 184. 

Actinomorphic, 75, 148. 

Acuminate. Tapering into a long 
point; 49. 

Acute. Forming or ending in an 
■ acute angle ; 49. 

Adnate. A term applicable to an 
anther when attached along 
its whole length to the fila- 
ment; 73. To the lamellae 
of an Agaric when grown 
fast to the stipe; 201. 

Adventitious buds, 28, 35. 

Aerial roots, 35. 

Estivation, 72. 

Agaricine. Like a toadstool or 
mushroom; 203. 

Aggregated fruits, 81. 

Akene, see achenium. 

Albumen, 84, 164, 173. 

Albuminous seeds, 84. 

Alburnum, 161. 

Alcoholic materials, 209. 

Alternation of generations, 185. 



Ament. A catkin; 117. 
Andrcecium, 65, 73. 
Angiosperms, 156. 
Annulus, 186, 187, 201. 
Anther, 65, 73. 
Antheridial branch, 196. 
Anthesis, 135. 
Anthotaxy, 59. 
Apetalous. Without petals. 
Areolation, 194. 
Areole, 194. 

Ascending axis. The stem; 33. 
Assimilation, 41. 

Auriculate. With ear-shaped ap- 
pendages at base ; 49. 
Axile placenta, 74. 

Bark, 10, 12, 20 ; inner bark, 11 ; 
middle bark, 11 ; outer bark, 
11. 

Bast, 11. 

Bifid. Cleft into two parts; 107. 

Blade of leaf, 38. 

Blight. Mildew ; a term applied 
to several forms of Fungi par- 
asitic on the growing parts of 
flowering plants ; 203. 



224 



APPENDIX D. 



225 



Books of reference, 222, 223. 

Bracts, 58, 60. 

Buds, arrangement of, 2, et seq. ; 
axillary. 3 ; development of, 
29, et seq. ; lateral, same as 
axillary, 30, 31 ; on roots, 33, 
34; structure, 29, et seq.; 
terminal, 3, 30, 31. 

Bud-scales, 57. 

Bulb, 28. 

Bulb-scales, 28, 57. 

Caducous. Falling off very early ; 
162. 

Calyptra, 192. 

Calyx, 64, 71. 

Cambium, 16, 17, 21. 

Capsule, of flowering-plants, 82, 
83 ; of liverwort, 195 ; of 
moss, 191, 192. 

Carpel, 74, 78. 

Carpellary. Pertaining to a car- 
pel. 

Caryopsis, see grain. 

Catkin, 61. 

Caulicle, 174. 

Cells, 11, 20; of anther, 65; of 
ovary, 66, 74. 

Cespitose. In tufts. 

Chaff, 138. 

Chlorophyl-grains, 39. 

Cilia. Delicate, hair-like struc- 
tures ; marginal hairs ; 107. 

Circinate. Spirally coiled ; 55,184. 

Circumcissile. Breaking by a 
transverse suture; 82. 

Cirrhose, or cirrhous. Ending in 
a tendril ; 53. 

Cladophyllum, 39. 

Cleft. Sharply cut about half- 
way, with acute sinuses; 51. 



Pinnately cleft, 52; palm- 
ately cleft, 52. 

Cleistogamous flowers, 147, 148. 

Compressed. Flattened later- 
ally; 56. 

Conduplicate. Folded lengthwise 
along the midrib ; 55. 

Cone, 83, 154, 155, 158, 159. 

Connate-perfoliate. Having the 
bases of opposite leaves 
grown together around the 
stem; 49. 

Connective, 65. 

Convolute. Rolled up from one 
edge; 55. 

Cordate. Heart-shaped ; 47, 49. 

Coriaceous. Leathery; 55. 

Cork, 11. 

Corolla, 64, 71. 

Cortex, 10, 17, Fig. 6 ; 18, Fig. 7 ; 
20, Fig. 8 ; 189. 

Cortical. Pertaining to the cor- 
tex; 17, 18, 20. 

Corymb, 61. 

Corymbose. Corymb-like, or a 
corymb; 123. 

Cotyledons, 22, 84. 

Crenate. With rounded teeth 
which are directed toward 
the tip ; 50. 

Crenate-dentate. With rounded 
teeth which are directed out- 
wardly; 104. 

Crenulate. Finely crenate; 51, 
196. 

Crescentiform. Shaped like a 
crescent; 195. 

Cryptogams. Plants which do 
not produce flowers with 
stamens and pistils. 

Culm, 169. 



226 



APPENDIX D. 



Cuneate. Wedge-shaped; 47, 

49, 
Cuspidate. With a short, abrupt 

tooth at the apex; 49. 

Deciduous, leaves, 37 ; bud-scales, 

31, 
Decompound. Said of leaves 

when irregularly several 

times compound; 53. 
Decurrent. Said of the blade of 

a leaf when it extends down 

on the stem, forming wings; 

49, 
Decussate, 2. 
Dehisce. To break open along 

definite lines; 65, 79. 
Dehiscence, in fruits, 82; in sta- 
mens, 73, 
Deliquescent, 151. 
Dentate. With sharp teeth whose 

points are directed outward ; 

51. 
Denticulate. Finely dentate ; 51, 

191. 
Descending axis. The root; 33. 
Determinate inflorescence, 62. 
Diadelphous, 73, 163. 
Diandrous. With two stamens; 

178. 
Dichotomous veining, 188. 
Diclinous, 117. 
Dicotyledonous, 22. 
Didynamous. The stamens in 

two pairs, one pair longer; 

178. 
Digitately-veined, 45. 
Dioecious. With staminate and 

pistillate flowers on different 

plants; 131. 
Discoid. Disk-like; 196. 



Disk, 75, 114 ; in composite flow- 
ers, 134. 

Disk-flower, 137. 

Dispersion, of fruits and seeds, 
84 

Distinct, Applied to stamens and 
other floral organs, when the 
parts of the set under con- 
sideration are not united 
with each other; 73. 

Divided. Said of leaves, etc., 
when cut almost to the mid- 
rib or base, 51 ; palmately di- 
vided, 52; pinnately divided, 
52. 

Dorsal. Pertaining to the back ; 
in the leaf, the lower sur- 
face. 

Doubly crenate. Coarsely cre- 
nate, and the large crena- 
tions again crenate; 51. 

Doubly dentate. Coarsely den- 
tate, and the large teeth 
again dentate; 51. 

Doubly serrate . C oar sely serrate , 
and the large teeth again 
serrate; 51. 

Drupe. A stone-fruit; 81; see 
also fruit of cherry, 141. 

Dry materials, lists, 211, 214. 

Duramen, 161. 

Elaters, 196. 

Elliptical. Shaped like an el- 
lipse ; much longer than wide 
and with rounded ends, 48. 

Emarginate. Indented by a shal- 
low, rounded sinus ; 49. 

Embryo, 84. 

Embryo-sac, 67. 

Endogens, 22. 



■APPENDIX D. 



227 



Entire. Without indentation or 
division; the margin even, 
whole; 51. 

Epidermis, 14, 27, 39, 80. 

Epigynous. Placed upon the pis- 
til : 73. 

Epipetalous. Placed upon or ad- 
nata to the corolla ; 73. 

Essential organs, 67. 

Etaerio, 81. 

Even-pinnate. Ending in two 
leaflets; 53. 

Ex-albuminous, 84, 164. 

Excurrent, 151. 

'Exogenous stem, 20, Fig. 8 ; 23. 

Exogens, 22. 23. 

Ex-stipulate. Without stipules. 

Extrorse. Turned outward, as 
an anther whose dehiscing 
side faces outward. 

Family, 90. 

Fascicle, 63. 

Fascicled, 38. 

Feather- veined, 45. 

Fertile. Bearing fruit ; 196. 

Fertilization, process of, 67. 

Fibrillose. Covered with delicate 
fibrils; 202. 

Fibro-vascular bundles, in leaves, 
40 ; in stems, 14. 

Fibro-vascular tissues, 14, 207. 

Filament, 65, 73. 

Fleshy fruits, 81. 

Floccose. In fleecy tufts, cot- 
tony; 54, 202. 

Floral organs, 58. 

Floret, 134. 

Flower, 64 : morpholog y , 71 ; 
parts, 64; physiology, 67. 

Follicle, 82. 



Free-central placenta, 74. 

Frond. The leaf of a fern; 183, 
184. 

Fructification. Fruit. 

Fruit, 67, 78, 79; aggregated, 81 
dehiscent, 79, 81; dry, 80 
fleshy, 81; indehiscent, 79 
multiple, 83; simple, 80 
stone, 80. 

Funiculus, 66. 

Furcate. Dichotomously fork- 
ing; 44. 

Gamopetalous, 72. 

Gamosepalous, 71. 

Genus (pi. genera), 90, 96, 130. 

Gemmae, 195. 

Gills (lamella?), 201. 

Glabrous. Smooth, without hairs 

or scales; 54. 
Glandular. Covered with glands, 

or gland-like ; 54. 
Glaucous. Covered with a white 

bloom ; 54. 
Glomerule, 63. 
Glumes, 171. 
Grain. A dry, one-seeded fruit, 

packed with "albumen" in 

which the seed is imbedded ; 

caryopsis, 80. 
Gymnosperms, 156. 
Gyncecium, 65, 74. 

Habitat, 88. 

Hairy. Covered with rather 

coarse, rigid hairs; 84. 
Half-inferior, 74. 
Half -superior, 74. 
Head, 62 ; in composite flowers, 

1:34. 
Herbaceous, 23, 55. 



228 



APPENDIX B. 



Hesperidium, 81. 

Hip. The aggregated fruit of the 
Rose, formed by the recepta- 
cle and calyx closing over the 
numerous akenes. 

Honey-gland, or nectar-gland, 100, 
127. 

Host-plant, 35. 

Hygroscopic. Possessing the 
property of hygroscopism ; 
186. 

Hygroscopism, 85. 

Hymenium, 201. 

Hypha (pi. hyphae), 197, 198. 

Hypogynous. Placed on the re- 
ceptacle ; 72, 73. 

Imbricated. Said of sepals, and 
also petals, when so placed in 
the bud that they overlap, 
some being wholly outside, 
others wholly inside, and 
still others partly in- and 
partly outside; 72. 

Imperfect flowers. Such as lack 
either stamens or pistils, or 
both; 76. 

Incised. Irregular, and sharply 
cut, less than half way to 
mid-rib or base ; 51. 

Indehiscent fruits, 79. 

Indusium (pi. indusia), 187. 

Inferior ovary, 74. 

Inflexed. Bent inward, as leaves 
transversely folded so that 
the apex lies near the base 
55. 

Inflorescence, 5 ; centrifugal, 62 
centripetal, 60 ; determinate 
62 ; indeterminate, 60 ; mixed 
64 ; solitary, 63. 



Innate. Borne upon. Said of the 
anther when attached by one 
end to the end of the fila- 
ment; 73. 

Internode, 2. 

Introrse. Turned inward, as when 
an adnate anther faces in- 
ward ; 13. 

Involucre, 60, 130, 134; in ferns, 
188. 

Involute. Rolled inward ; applied 
to both aestivation and ver- 
nation when the x^arts are 
longitudinally rolled inward 
from both edges in the bud ; 
55, 72. 

Irregular flowers, 76. 

Keel, 163. 

Labiate. Two-lipped; 72. 

Laciniate. Cut into a fringe; 
104. 

Lamellae, 191, 201. 

Lanceolate, or lance-shaped. A 
term applied to leaves, etc., 
in which the length is much 
greater than the width, the 
widest part being near the 
base; 47. 

Lateral buds, or axillary buds, 
30, 37. 

Latex, 133. 

Leaf, 37, et seq. ; apex, 49; ar- 
rangement, 38; base, 48; 
color, 53 ; compound, 52 ; di- 
vision of blade, 51 ; duration, 
37 ; form, or general outline, 
47 ; functions, 41 ; margin, 
50 ; parts, 38 : simple. 52 : 
special forms, 56; structure, 



APPENDIX D. 



229 



39 ; surface, 54 ; texture, 55 ; 
venation, 44 ; vernation, 55. 

Leaflets, 52. 

Leaf-parenchyma, 39. 

Legume, 82, 164. 

Liber, 11. 

Ligulate. Strap-shaped, like the 
rays of a sunflower; 72. 

Ligule, 169. 

Limb. Border; the spreading por- 
tion of salver-shaped, or fun- 
nel-formed calyx or corolla ; 
72. 

Linear. Narrow; applied to 
leaves, etc., which are very 
narrow, and of nearly uni- 
form width throughout; 48. 

Linear-lanceolate. Narrowly 
lanceolate; 48. 

Lobed. Divided into lobes; ap- 
plied to a leaf, etc., which 
is cut about half-way, the 
sinus being obtuse ; 51. Pal- 
mately lobed, 52; pinnately 
lobed, 52. 

Loculicidal, 82. 

Loculus (pi. loculi), 66, 74. 

Lodicules, 172. 

Loment. A legume which is 
notched so that it readily 
breaks into one-seeded seg- 
ments; 82. 

Medulla, 10. 
Medullary rays, 15, 19. 
Mesophyl. The pulpy middle 

part of the blade of a leaf; 

170. 
Micropyle, 67; 68, Fig. 9; 156. 
Mid-rib, 44, 191, 195. 
Monadelphous, 73, 163. 



Monocotyledonous, 22. 

Monoecious, 117. 

Monopetalous, 72. 

Monosepalous, 71. 

Morphology of the flower, 71 ; of 
the root, 34. 

Mucronate. Tipped with a pro- 
jection of the mid-rib; 49. 

Multiple fruits, 83. 

Nectar-gland, or honey-gland, 100, 
127. 

Needle-shaped. Slender and rigid, 
as the leaves of the Pine ; 
48. 

Nerves, on calyx, 175 ; in leaves, 
46. 

Node, 2. 

Nodulose, 102. 

Non-essential organs, 67, 70, 

Nucleus, 68, Fig. 9. 

Nut. A one-celled, one-seeded 
fruit with a hardened peri- 
carp, and a cup-like involu- 
cre; 80. 

Obcordate. Inversely heart- 
shaped ; 48. Applied also to 
the apex when shaped like 
the base of a cordate leaf ; 49. 

Oblanceolate. Inversely lanceo- 
late; 47. 

Oblong. Longer than broad ; ap- 
plied to leaves, etc., which 
are widest at the middle, 
have rounded ends, and are 
more than twice as long as 
their greatest width ; 48. 

Oblong-ovate. Like the ovate 
form, but widest at the mid- 
dle; 48. 



230 



APPENDIX D. 



Obovate. Inversely ovate ; 47. 

Odd-pinnate. Applied to pin- 
nately compound leaves 
which end with one leaflet; 
53. 

Oophytic, 186, 193. 

Oosphere, 67 ; 6$, Fig. 9 ; 185, 193, 
197. 

Oospore, 69. 

Opposite, buds, 5 ; leaves, 38. 
Applied also to the parts of 
the flower when those of one 
set are in the same radial line 
with those of the adjacent 
sets; 73. 

Operculum, 192. 

Order, 90. 

Oval. Broadly elliptical, the 
length less than twice the 
greatest width ; 48. 

Ovate. Nearly the same as oval ; 
applied to leaves, etc., which 
have the length not more 
than two-and-one-half times 
the greatest width, and 
which are widest near the 
base; 47. 

Ovate-lanceolate. A term de- 
scriptive of forms interme- 
diate between ovate and lan- 
ceolate; 48. 

Ovary, 66; 68, Fig. 9; 74. 

Ovules, 66 ; 68, Fig. 9. 

Palets, 171. 

Panicle, 62. 

Panicled. Arranged in a panicle. 

Papilionaceous, 72, 163, 

Pappus, 135. 

Parasites, 35, 203. 

Parenchyma, 13, 40. 



Parted. As applied to leaves, 
etc., cut more than half-way 
to the base or mid-rib, but not 
so deeply as to be divided ; 
51. Palmately, 52 ; pinnate- 
ly, 52. 

Pedicel, 60, 196. 

Pedicellate. Having a pedicel; 
61, 63. 

Peduncle, 63. 

Peltate. Shield-shaped ; applied 
to a leaf which has the petio! e 
attached near the centre of 
the blade, or at least above 
the basal margin; 49. 

Pepo. A fleshy fruit with a hard 
rind; 81. 

Perennial. Enduring; lasting 
year after year; 26. 

Perfect flowers, 75. 

Perfoliate. Passing through the 
leaf ; a term apjdied to a leaf 
when its base is united 
around the stem, the latter 
appearing to pass through 
the leaf; 49. 

Perianth, 64. 

Pericarp, 80, 81. 

Perigynous, 72, 73. 

Peristome, 192. 

Petaloid. In color and appear- 
ance like a petal. 

Petals, 64, 72. 

Petiole, 38, 56. 

Petiolules, 52. 

Pileus, 200. 

Pinna (pi. pinnae). One of the 
first, or main, divisions of a 
frond; 184. 

Pinnatifid. Deeply and irregu- 
larly pinnately cleft; 52. 



APPENDIX I). 



231 



Pinnule. One of the divisions of 
a pinna ; 185. 

Pistil, 65, 74; compound, 75; 
simple, 74. 

Pistillate flower. One having 
pistils, but no stamens; 154. 

Pitted. Covered with minute 
depressions; 84. 

Placenta (pi. placentae), 66, 74. 

Placentation, 66. 

Plan of flower, 76, Fig. 10. 

Plant-hairs, 122. 

Plicate. Plaited like a fan ; aesti- 
vation, 72 ; vernation, 55. 

Plumule, 22, 84, 173. 

Pollen, 65, 73. 

Pollination, 70. 

Polypetalous, 72. 

Polysepalous, 71. 

Pome, 81; see fruit of apple, 141. 

Prothallus, 185. 

Puberulent. Covered with mi- 
nute down ; 54. 

Pubescent. Downy with soft 
hairs; 54. 

Pulvinus, 161. 

Pyxis. A capsule opening by a 
lid; 83. 

Raceme, 61. 

Racemose. Arranged in a ra- 
ceme; 123. 

Radicle, 22, 69, 84, 173. 

Ray-flower, 1-37. 

Receptacle, 66, 196. 

Reduplicate. Turned backward, 
as when the edges of the 
leaves are turned outward in 
the bud ; 72. 

Regular flower, 75. 

Reniform. Kidney-shaped ; 47, 49. 



Repand. Wavy, like the margin 
of an open umbrella ; 49. 

Resin-ducts, 11. 

Resupinate, 147. 

Revolute. Having the margins 
rolled backward; 55. 

Rhachis, 59, 170. 

Rhizoids. Root-hairs; 190,194. 

Rhizoma, or rhizome, 26. 

Root-cap, 173. 

Root-hairs, 121, 168, 190, 194. 

Roots, 32 ; compared with stems, 
32; functions, 35, 36; mor- 
phology, 34; primary, 33; 
secondary, 33. 

Rosaceous. Arranged like the 
petals of a normal Rose, like 
the flowers of the Cherry, 
etc. ; 72. 

Rostrum, 192. 

Rotate. Wheel-shaped ; the bor- 
der, as of a corolla, spreading 
abruptly, and the tube short 
or wanting; 72. 

Runcinate. Lobed or cleft, with 
the points of the divisions 
directed backward; 52. 

Runners, 147. 

Rust. The common name of cer- 
tain Fungi parasitic on the 
leaves of Grasses, etc. ; 203. 

Sagittate. Arrow-shaped, 47,49. 

Salver-shaped. In the form of a 
salver; a term applied to 
corollas, etc., with narrow 
tube and abruptly spreading, 
flat limb ; 72. 

Samara, 80, 95. 

Saprophytic, 203. 

Scabrous. Rough; 54. 



232 



APPENDIX D. 



Scales, bud, 29 ; bulb, 28 ; in com- 
posite flowers, 134. 

Scape, 60. 

Scurfy. Covered with epidermal 
scales; 202. 

Scutellum, 173. 

Seed, 67, 79, 83. 

Seed-sowing, 220. 

Sepals, 64, 71. 

Septa, 74. 

Septate. With partitions or 
septa; 198. 

Serrate. With sharp teeth di- 
rected toward the apex; 51. 

Serrulate. Finely serrate; 51. 

Sessile, flowers, 61, 63; leaves, 
60. 

Seta, 191. 

Silicle. A short silique ; 83. 

Silique. An elongated pod, with 
two valves which at maturity 
break away from a middle 
false partition, as in Black 
Mustard; 83. 

Sinuate. Wavy; 51. 

Sinus, 48, 50. 

Sorosis. A fleshy multiple fruit, 
as the Mulberry, Osage-or- 
ange, etc. ; 83. 

Sorus (pi. sori), 187. 

Spadix, 61. 

Spathe, 61. 

Spatulate. Shaped like a spat- 
ula; with a broad, rounded 
tip tapering to the base; 
47. 

Species, 95, 96. 

Spicate. Arranged in spikes; 
170. 

Spike, 61. 

Spikelet, 170. 



Sporangia, 186, 198. 

Spores, 185, 192, 193, 197, 198. 

Sporophytic, 186, 193. 

Stamens, 65, 73; insertion, 73; 
union, 73. 

Staminate flower. One having 
stamens but no pistil. 

Standard, 163. 

Starch, 27. 

Stellate. Radiating, star-shaped. 

Stems, 10, et seq. ; compared 
with roots, 32 ; cross-section, 
20; habit, 25; kinds, 21, 24; 
structure, 12, et seq. 

Sterile. Not bearing fruit. 

Stigma, 66; 68, Fig. 9; 74. 

Stigmatic surface, 66; 68, Fig. 
9. 

Stipe, 184, 200. 

Stipules, 38, 56. 

Stoma (pi. stomata), 39, 43, 151, 
194. 

Strap-shaped, see Ugulate, 139. 

Strobile, see cone, 83. 

Style, 66; 68, Fig. 9; 74. 

Style-arm. One of the stigmatic 
branches in composite flow- 
ers; 135. 

Succulent. Fleshy, juicy; 54. 

Superior ovary, 74. 

Supervolute. Descriptive of a 
corolla that is plaited, and 
then convolute in the bud; 
72. 

Suture, 82. 

Symmetrical flower, 76. 

Syngynesious, 73, 135. 

Tendrils, 56, 57. 

Terete. Cylindrical, or nearly 
so; 56. 



APPENDIX D. 



233 



Testa, 83. 

Thalloid. Thallus-like, not show- 
ing a distinct differentiation 
into stem and leaves ; 194. 

Thyrsus, 62. 

Tomentose. Woolly; 54. 

Tomentum. Wool ; 133, 184. 

Torus, 66, 75. 

Transpiration, 43. 

Triadelphous. United into three 
sets by the filaments ; 73. 

Tribes, 130, 142. 

Trichomes, 122. 

Truncate. Blunt; as if cut off 
abruptly; 49. 

Tryma, 81. 

Tuber, 26. 

Typical flower, 76. 

Umbel, 61. 

Undulate. Wavy; 51. 

Unsymmetrical flower, 76. 

Utricle. A one-seeded dry fruit, 
much like the grain, but en- 
closed in a membranous sac 
or covering ; 80. 



Valvate. A term descriptive of 
a form of aestivation when the 
sepals or petals in bud come 
together only at their edges, 
and do not overlap ; 72. 

Valves, 82. 

Veil. A film or covering which in 
many Agarics at first unites 
the edge of the pileus with 
the stipe; 202. 

Venation, 39 ; kinds, 44. 

Vernation, 55, 184. 

Versatile. Free to turn ; a term 
applied to the anther when 
attached at its middle to the 
end of the filament ; 73. 

Verticillaster, 63. 

Verticillate. Whorled. 

Vexillum, 163. 

Villose. Covered with long, weak 
hairs; 54. 

Viscid. Sticky; 104. 

Whorled, 38. 

Zygomorphic. Irregular ; 76, 148. 



ENGLISH. 



Studies in English Composition 

By Harriet C. Keeler, High School, Cleveland. Ohio, and Emma 
C. Davis, Cleveland, Ohio. i2mo, cloth, 210 pages. Price, 80 cents. 

THIS book is the outgrowth of experience in teaching compo- 
sition, and the lessons which it contains have all borne the 
actual test of the class-room. Intended to meet the wants of 
those schools which have composition as a weekly exercise in 
their course of study, it contains an orderly succession of topics 
adapted to the age and development of high school pupils, to- 
gether with such lessons in language and rhetoric as are of con- 
stant application in class exercises. 

The authors believe that too much attention cannot be given 
to supplying young writers with good models, which not only 
indicate what is expected, and serve as an ideal toward which 
to work, but stimulate and encourage the learner in his first 
efforts. For this reason numerous examples of good writing 
have been given, and many more have been suggested. 

The primal idea of the book is that the pupil learns to write 
by writing ; and therefore that it is of more importance to get 
him to write than to prevent his making mistakes in writing. 
Consequently, the pupil is set to writing at the very outset ; the 
idea of producing something is kept constantly uppermost, and 
the function of criticism is reserved until after something has 
been done which may be criticised. 

J. W. Stearns, Professor of Pedagogy, University of Wisconsin : It strikes 
me that the author of your " Studies in English Composition " touches 
the gravest defect in school composition work when she writes in her pref- 
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beauty, as ask a child to write from his own experience when he expects 
every sentence to be dislocated in order to be improved." In order to 
improve the beauty of the body, we drive out the soul in our extreme for- 
mal criticisms of school compositions. She has made a book which 
teaches children to write by getting them to write often and freely ; and if 
used with the spirit which has presided over the making of it, it will prove 
a most effective instrument for the reform of school composition work. 

Albert G. Owen, Superintendent, Afton, Iowa: It is an excellent text. I 
am highly pleased with it. The best of the kind I have yet seen. 



ENGLISH. 13 



A Drill Book in English 

Compiled by George E. Gay, Principal of High School, Maiden, Mass. 
i2mo, boards. Price, 45 cents. 

THIS book is designed for the use of such pupils as have pre- 
viously learned the substance of the rules which it contains. 
It does not aim to give all the principles of the language, but 
emphasizes those which are most frequently violated. It will be 
warmly welcomed by those teachers who are endeavoring in a 
practical way to teach their pupils the use of correct English. 
Such teachers recognize the fact that pupils use many incorrect 
forms of expression, both in speaking and in writing, and they 
have learned by experience that the way to make the vices of a 
language hateful is to place them side by side with their con- 
trasting virtues. It contains, in brief form, rules for spelling, 
punctuation, capitalization, and the more important principles 
of grammar and rhetoric. Abundant exercises for practice are 
given ; and these are arranged on pages with wide margin, so 
that the work of correction can be done with the least expendi- 
ture of time and labor. 

A separate edition, which serves as a key to the exercises, is 
published for the use of teachers. 

J. G. Croswell, Principal of the Brearley School, New York City : I have 
examined Gay's Drill Book in English, and have ordered it at once. It is 
a very valuable addition to the apparatus of the teacher. 

Edwin H. Cutler, Classical School, Newton, Mass. : There is great occasion 
in our schools for a book of this kind ; and I am satisfied from an exam- 
ination of the work that it will prove highly serviceable. 

William E. Frost, Principal of Westford Academy, Westford, Mass. : I like 
it very much, for it supplies material with which a practical teacher can 
really drill classes effectually in the niceties of English expression. 

Daniel E. Owen, Thornton Academy, Saco, Me.: It is the best thing in its 
line that I have ever seen. 

J. P. Marston, Principal of High School, Biddeford, Me. : Its plan is ad- 
mirable for obtaining good results in teaching English language. The 
principles are stated in such a form that pupils will forever hold them. 

A. P. Bechdolt, State University, Grand Forks, N. D. : I like it very much ; 
its examples are well selected, and there is an abundance of them. 



48 SCIENCE. 



The Elements of Physics 

By Professor Henry S. Carhart, University of Michigan, and H. N. 
Chute, Ann Arbor High School. i2mo, cloth, 392 pages. Price, $1.20. 

THIS is the freshest, clearest, and most practical manual on 
the subject. Facts have been presented before theories. 

The experiments are simple, requiring inexpensive apparatus, 
and are such as will be easily understood and remembered. 

Every experiment, definition, and statement is the result of 
practical experience in teaching classes of various grades. 

The illustrations are numerous, and for the most part new, 
many having been photographed from the actual apparatus set 
up for the purpose. 

Simple problems have been freely introduced, in the belief 
that in this way a pupil best grasps the application of a principle. 

The basis of the whole book is the introductory statement 
that physics is the science of matter and energy, and that noth- 
ing can be learned of the physical world save by observation and 
experience, or by mathematical deductions from data so obtained. 
The authors do not believe that immature students can profitably 
be set to rediscover the laws of Nature at the beginning of their 
study of physics, but that they must first have a clearly defined idea 
of what they are doing, an outfit of principles and data to guide 
them, and a good degree of skill in conducting an investigation. 

William H. Runyon, Armour Institute, Chicago : Carhart and Chute's text- 
book in Physics has been used in the Scientific Academy of Armour 
Institute during the past year, and will be retained next year. It has 
been found concise and scientific. We believe it to be the best book on 
the market for elementary work in the class-room. 

Professor M. A. Brannon, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks: I 
am glad to express the opinion, based on the use of this work in Elemen- 
tary Physics last year, at Fort Wayne, lnd., that it is the most logical and 
clear presentation of the subject with which I am acquainted. The prob- 
lems associated with the discussion of Physical phenomena, laws, and ex- 
periments serve the dual purpose of leading the scholar to reason, and 
put into practice the previous clearly and concisely stated principles of 
Elementary Physics. It is a book that will greatly elevate the standard 
of scholarship wherever used. 



SCIENCE. 49 



Professor H. N. Allen, University of Nebraska, Lincoln : Carhart and 
Chute's Physics is not used in the University, but it is recommended by 
us for use in high schools. I believe it to be one of the best books of 
its class published. 

Professor Arthur M. Goodspeed, University of Pennsylvania. I have not 
had time to read it in course, but have examined it in parts quite care- 
fully, and do not hesitate in saying that, for a book of its size and grade, 
I deem it the best one that has been brought to my attention. 

Professor John W. Johnson, University of Mississippi : I have examined 
Elements of Physics by Carhart and Chute, and I believe it combines the 
theoretical and practical in just the right proportion to make it a most 
efficient and valuable text-book. 

G. W. Krall, Manual Training School, St. Louis, Mo. : I have used Carhart 
and Chute's Physics during the past year with entire satisfaction to teacher 
and pupils. The book is fresh in presentation, omits the worn-out matter 
of ordinary text-books, and is clear and exact in statement. The problems 
are excellent and new ; and the book breathes the spirit of new methods. 
It is by far the best book published for secondary schools. We shall con- 
tinue its use the coming year. 

Dwight M. Miner, High School, Taunto?i, Mass.: After examining care- 
fully a number of books, I decided to adopt Carhart and Chute's Elements 
of Physics. After using it twenty-five weeks, I can say that it has fully 
come up to my expectations. I find the experiments well chosen, the 
explanations clearly put, and the arrangement logical. I am especially 
pleased with the chapter on Electricity. I shall continue to use the book. 

William F. Langworthy, Colgate Academy, Hamilton, NY.: After using 
Carhart and Chute's Physics for the past year, I can say that it is the very 
best text-book I have seen. It is almost perfectly adapted to our needs. 
We shall continue to use it. 

W. C. Peckham, Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn, N.Y.: Your Carhart and 
Chute's Physics on the whole impresses me as the best book out for a 
beginner to use in getting his first view of the general principles of the 
whole subject. 

C. F. Adams, High School, Detroit, Mich. : The Carhart and Chute's Phys- 
ics, which has been in use in my classes since last September, has given 
excellent satisfaction. The book is thoroughly scientific, and is abreast 
with modern thought and developments. Before using the book I was 
somewhat doubtful as to the ability of my pupils to grasp those subjects 
as presented in this book, but the results have been a pleasant surprise 
to me. 



54 MATHEMATICS. 



An Academic Algebra 



By Professor J. M. Taylor, Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y. i6mo, 
cloth, 348 pages. Price, $1.00. 

THIS book is adapted to beginners of any age, and covers 
sufficient ground for admission to any American college or 
university. In it the fundamental laws of number, the literal 
notation, and the method of solving and using the simpler 
forms of equations, are made familiar before the idea of alge- 
braic number is introduced. The theory of equivalent equa- 
tions and systems of equations is fully and clearly presented. 
Factoring is made fundamental in the study and solution of 
equations. Fractions, ratios, and exponents are concisely and 
scientifically treated, and the theory of limits is briefly and 
clearly presented. 

Professor C. H. Judson, Furman University, Greenville, S.C.: I take great 
pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of Taylor's Academic Algebra. I 
regard this and his college treatise as among the very best books on the 
subject, and shall take pleasure in commending the Academic Algebra to 
the schools of this State. 

Professor E. P. Thompson, Miami University, Oxford, O. : I find the claims 
made in your notice of publication well sustained, and that the book is 
compact, well printed, presenting just the subjects needed in preparation 
for college, and in just about the right proportion, and simply presented. 
I like the treatment of the theory of limits, and think the student should 
be introduced early to it. I am more pleased with the book the more 
I examine it. 

W. A. Ingalls, Principal, Marathon, N.Y.: I have waited some time before 
acknowledging the receipt of Taylor's Academic Algebra, in order to speak 
more understanding^ of its merits. After measuring it by means of 
others which I have used in the class-room, I think it admirably suited for 
our regents' schools. More than this, it contains much that is valuable 
that is within the comprehension of the average student which is not found 
in other books of like grade. It is a scholarly book. 

Charles Henry Douglas, Principal of High School, Hartford, Conn. : The 
book is a good one, and contains more algebra than any other book of its 
size on the market. It is shorn of much of the " padding " that creeps into 
text-books on every subject, and deals with the essentials in a clear, vigor- 
ous, and progressive way. The treatment of factoring, and the emphasis 
put upon the importance of the equation, are particularly excellent. 



MATHEMATICS. 5o 



Professor Geo. A. Harter, Delaware College, Newark, Del. : I have read it 
with much pleasure. Its whole plan and execution are so good I shall not 
attempt to particularize in my praise. I shall recommend it unhesitat- 
ingly whenever I have an opportunity. The typography and mechanical 
make-up are in keeping with the excellent contents. Indeed, author and 
publishers have produced a little gem of a text -book, and I am not sure 
but the publishers have contributed as much to the attractiveness and value 
of the book as Dr. Taylor by putting it in such a model dress. 

L. P. Jocelyn, High School, Ann Arbor, Mich.: I examined it quite thor- 
oughly, and like it better than any of the many books I have examined. 

Professor W. B. Smith, Tulane University, New Orleans. La. : The gen- 
eral air of this Algebra is very business-like. The author wastes few words 
in preliminaries, but closes quickly and earnestly with matters as they 
come to hand. The problems are exceedingly numerous and apparently 
well-chosen ; and on the whole the book would seem to be eminently teach- 
able. The author has strengthened the common presentation by calling 
particular attention to the doctrine of equivalent systems of equations, and 
has briefly sketched the Theory of Limits, making one extremely impor- 
tant application of it to the doctrine of Incommensurables, for which he 
will receive thanks from teachers of algebra. . . . 

Professor Taylor's book is a hopeful sign of the times, and teachers that use 
it — of whom may there be many — will almost certainly be pleased. 

Robert M. King, High School, Indianapolis, Ind. : I am much pleased with 
it. It is clear, concise, free from unnecessary material, and its treatment 
of factoring quadratics, and of other subjects, is very fine. 

E. P. Sisson, Colgate Academy, Hamilton, NY. : The book is conspicuously 
meritorious : first, in the clear distinction made between arithmetical and 
algebraic number, which lies at the foundation of a clear and comprehen- 
sive understanding of the science of algebra ; second, the introduction at 
the very first of the equation as an instrument of mathematical investiga- 
tion ; third, . . . Dr. Taylor's presentation of the doctrine of equivalency 
is clear and rigid ; . . . fourth, the treatment of the subject of factoring 
is concise, comprehensive, and logical. ... I am using the book with 
satisfaction in my own classes. 

T. F. Kane, Superintendent of Schools, Naugatuck, Conn. : The book bears 
evidence of being prepared by a careful teacher. The fact that algebra is 
the science of the equation is emphasized throughout. No other text-book 
on the subject with which I am acquainted meets my ideal as nearly as this 
one does. The book is all the author claims. 

George A, Knapp, Professor of Mathematics, Olivet College, Olivet, Mich. : 
Professor Taylor's Algebra is clear and simple, yet thoroughly mathemati- 
cal. It is well adapted to the purpose that elementary algebra subserves, — 
laying the foundations for mathematical ability. 



56 SCIENCE. 



Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene 

A Manual for the Use of Colleges, Schools, and General Readers. By 
Jerome Walker, M.D. i2mo, cloth, 427 pages. Price, #1.20. 

THIS book was prepared with special reference to the require- 
ments of high and normal schools, academies, and colleges, 
and is believed to be a fair exponent of the present condition of 
the science. Throughout its pages lessons of moderation are 
taught in connection with the use of each part of the body. 
The subjects of food, and of the relations of the skin to the 
various parts of the body and to health, are more thoroughly 
treated than is ordinarily the case. All the important facts are 
so fully explained, illustrated, and logically connected, that they 
can be easily understood and remembered. Dry statements are 
avoided, and the mind is not overloaded with a mass of technical 
material of little value to the ordinary student. 

The size of type and the color of paper have been adopted in 
accordance with the advice of Dr. C. R. Agnew, the well-known 
oculist. Other eminent specialists have carefully reviewed the 
chapters on the Nervous System, Sight, Hearing, the Voice, and 
Emergencies, so that it may justly be claimed that these impor- 
tant subjects are more adequately treated than in any other school 
Physiology. 

The treatment of the subject of alcohol and narcotics is in 
conformity with the views of the leading physicians and physiol- 
ogists of to-day. 

The Nation, New York : Dr. Jerome Walker's Anatomy, Physiology, and 
Hygiene appears an almost faultless treatise for colleges, schools, and 
general readers. Careful study has not revealed a serious blemish ; its 
tone is good, its style is pleasant, and its statements are unimpeachable. 
We cordially commend it as a trustworthy book to all seeking information 
about the body, and how to preserve its integrity. 

Journal of the American Medical Association : For the purposes for 
which it is written, it is the most interesting and fairest exponent of 
present physiological and hygienic knowledge that has ever appeared. 
It should be used in every school, and should be a member of every family, 
— more especially of those in which there are young people. It is a 
pleasure to read and review such an excellent book. 



SCIENCE. 57 

Professor J. C. Richardson, M.D., Late of the University of Pennsylvania: 
I cordially congratulate you upon the clear, accurate, and attractive way in 
which you have set forth the great facts of our human anatomy and physi- 
ology, and founded upon them the laws of hygiene. I hope and believe 
your excellent work will do much to instruct the rising generation in the 
priceless knowledge of how to preserve health, and attain long life for 
themselves and for their children after them. 

Charles S. Moore, Principal of High School, New Bedford, Mass. : I can 
speak in terms of the highest commendation of Walker's Physiology as a 
text-book. An experience of two years with it enables me to say that I 
consider it the best text-book on physiology that is published. 

John W. Wyatt, Principal of High School, Lynchburg, Va. : The work is 
indeed a treatise of rare excellence. 

Jas. A. Merrill, State Normal School, Warrensburg, Mo. : The books are 
entirely satisfactory, and are all that could be desired. 

E. H. Russell, Principal of State A T ormal School, Worcester, Mass.: 
Walkers Physiology is used in our classes more than any other text-book 
on that subject, and gives good satisfaction to teachers and students. It 
is clear, comprehensive, and conveniently arranged for practical use. 

Geo. H. Tracy, Principal of High School, Waterbury, Conn.: As to 
Walker, I am glad to say that I know the book, and have tested its merit 
by work in the class. I consider it decidedly the best work I know of 
for high schools and academies. 

W. K. Hill, Carthage, III.: It was a positive pleasure to me to examine 
Walker's Physiology, as it always is to find something good and progres- 
sive in scientific text-books. 

W. J. Wolverton, Lock Haven, Pa.: It is the best work on physiology and 
Hygiene published so far as I have seen. 

Warren Craig, Principal of High Schocl, Warren, O. : It is a fascinating 
book for the general reader, and at the same time, by its accuracy, com- 
mends itself to the scientific man. In it there is no need of the notes and 
explanations used to complete or illustrate similar books. But the work 
deserves higher praise than to be compared with many physiologies used in 
our high schools and academies. Its language is plain, clear, and always 
intelligible. The author has secured the two requisites of an ideal text- 
book, — breadth of scope without being superficial, and conciseness of ex- 
planation without being technical. 

0. W. Collins, M.D., Superintendent of Schools, Framingham, Mass.: 
We have used Walker's Physiology for the past four years. Every one 
acquainted with the science, after giving this book a thorough trial, will 
admit it to be the very best published for high school use. 



58 SCIENCE. 



Herbarium and Plant Descriptions 

Designed by Professor Edward T. Nelson, Ohio Wesleyan University. 
Portfolio, 7% X io inches. Price, 75 cents. Adapted to any Botany. 

THIS is an herbarium and plant record combined, enabling 
the student to preserve the specimens together with a 
record of their characteristics. 

A sheet of four pages is devoted to each specimen. The first 
page contains a blank form, with ample space for a full descrip- 
tion of the plant, and for notes of the circumstances under 
which it was collected. The pressed specimen is to be mounted 
on the third page, and the entire sheet then serves as a species- 
cover. Each portfolio contains fifty sheets, which are separate, 
so as to permit of scientific rearrangement after mounting the 
specimens. 

The preliminary matter gives full directions for collecting, 
pressing, and mounting plants, as well as a synopsis of botani- 
cal terms. 

The portfolio is strong, durable, and attractive in appearance. 

In the class-room and in the field this work has been found 
helpful and stimulating. It encourages observation and research, 
and leads to an exact knowledge of classification. 

Professor D. P. Penhallow, McGill University, Montreal, Can. : The idea 
is a good one, and well carried out. I am sure it will prove most useful in 
the botanical work of schools and academies, for which I would strongly 
recommend it. 

Professor G. H. Perkins, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. : It is the 
best thing of the sort I have seen ; very attractive and very helpful to 
beginners in calling attention to points that would be overlooked. 

Professor B. P. Colton, Normal University, III. : It is a very ingenious ar- 
rangement, and neatly gotten up. It speaks well for the publishers, as 
well as the designer. It is the neatest scheme of the kind I have seen. 

0. D. Robinson, Principal of High School, Albany, N. Y. : It appears to me 
to be a very complete arrangement, admirable in every respect, and very 
moderate in price. 

F. S. Hotaling, Formerly Principal of High School, Framingham, Mass. : 
Last year's work in botany was made so much more interesting and valua- 
ble by the use of the Herbarium that we find it now a necessity. 



